evert bongers
about
series
frozen heartbeats
The ongoing series "Frozen Heartbeats is based
on an armed robbery at Evert Bongers' home.
He uses International surveillance camera
images as a starting point for these works. The
chilly, rigid, and rational movies that are purely
meant to capture criminal activities and other
unwanted situations are frozen in time and
converted into "works of art". The need to
exercise control over reality and to transform
"evil" into "good" is a common thread in Evert
Bongers' work. The power of imagination is
liberating and comforting. Evert Bongers himself
calls it a quest for compassion.
Inkjet prints, framed, 21x29,7 cm, 2016 >
unmasked
"Unmasked" is based on an armed robbery at
Evert Bongers' home.
By experimenting with facial composite sketches of serial killers, he transforms these drawings into photographic abstractions, in which these killers come to life.
The abstracted persons appear to have been screened by a x-ray machine.
The lines used to reconstruct these serial killers resemble DNA strands when magnified.
They are a metaphor for the complexity of body and mind.
These abstractions are both liberating and comforting, the unmasked and reconstructed persons are exposed.
Evert Bongers himself calls it a quest for
compassion.
C-prints, diasec, 100x100 cm, 2020 >
guns
This series is based on an armed robbery at Evert Bongers home.
By experimenting with low-resolution images, he transforms "real" weapons in an abstraction of lines, shapes and colors, in which the original source is still felt.
These abstractions are liberating, the dissolved materials recreate themselves.
Evert Bongers himself calls it a quest for compassion.
C-prints, diasec, 20x42,75 cm, 2016 >
313
Series "313" is inspired by frame 313 of the famous Zapruder film, which shows the fatal shot that killed John F. Kennedy in Dallas on november 22, 1963.
Evert Bongers transformed this iconic and most investigated image ever, in a series of abstract
works, in which he explored the boundaries of digital photography.
His intuitive, creative process and the surprisingly aesthetic results give him a sense of consolation in the awareness that we are mortal.
C-prints, diasec, 30,4x23,7 cm, 2015
hallucinations
"Hallucinations" gives us a glimpse into the mind of Evert Bongers.
He investigates an unknown and fascinating world in which reason has no role.
Bongers is searching for a pure, magical, sometimes religious imagination of the subconscious.
The works are largely determined by signs and lines arising from the spontaneous outbreak of what is going on in his mind.
The dancing camera only follows the spiritual "orders".
Wandering in the soul is an inexhaustible source for Evert Bongers.
C-prints, diasec, 80x120 cm, 2015 >
taboo
In "Taboo", Evert Bongers used antique bookpages, with its own traces of time and elements as the basis for his inkjet prints.
The prints depict the classic themes: innocence, religion, sexuality, and death.
The confronting images disappear in the poetry of the paper and are being transformed into acceptable memories this way.
The influence of antique paper, with its own past, is consoling and makes us think "outside the circle".
Unique inkjet prints, framed, 40x50 cm, 2015 >
somniorum
"Somniorum" is about the loneliness of childhood.
Children seem to be lost in no man's land and disappear in the poetry of the paper.
Memories fade away.
The influence of antique paper, with its own past, is consoling for Evert Bongers.
Unique inkjet prints, framed, 40x50 cm, 2015 >
mona lisa
Through intuitive experiments with the Mona Lisa, Evert Bongers tries to understand, to conjure and visualize the mystery of it.
All senses and more are on the edge during this experimental journey, but each appearance enhances the mystery.
It seems like she plays with the eagerness and desire of the photographer.
As if she is glad to escape from Da Vinci's straitjacket, as if she wants to dance on the movements of the camera and entrusts herself
to him.
This palpable intimacy is enchanting and the artist's fascination is finally rewarded.
C-prints, diasec, 77x53 cm, 2012 >
celebration
It's 1935 when German children are celebrating the rise of Adolf Hitler and the National-Socialism in a found war documentary on the internet.
Evert Bongers used the low-resolution images of this part of the film for his "Celebration" series, in which he innocence visibly transforms into guilt, resulting in a dance of death of Hitler with his holocaust victims.
C-prints, dibond, 80x120 cm, 2013
nightscapes
The series "Nightscapes" is a tribute of the artist to the silence and poetry of "les paysages nocturnes".
The softness of the dark, with its deep blue tones, gives ultimate space for imagination.
We do not see what we see, but what we feel.
C-prints, diasec, 66,7x50 cm, 2010 >
memento mori
With his photoworks in "Memento Mori", Evert Bongers tries to ward off his fear of death and its
incomprehensibility, by literally halting the process of decay and disappearance, while simultaneously evoking the mysterious atmosphere of the transitional area between life and death.
The direct inspiration for the creation of these works was the terminal disease and the inevitable death of his mother.
Unique gelatin silver prints, framed, 40x50 cm, 1992 >
folders
Frozen Heartbeats
Original, hand signed inkjet prints (9) on acid free van Gogh pastel paper.
Information about the artist and his work is included in the book, as well as a certificate of authenticity.
Year
2019
Edition
250
Artist
Evert Bongers
Design
Evert Bongers
curriculum vitae
biography
Evert Bongers (1957, Stein, the Netherlands) lives and works in Maastricht.
After completing his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Maastricht, Bongers worked for several years as a photographer for art institutions and galleries. During this period, he documented the work of artists such as Marlene Dumas, Bertrand Lavier, Martin Kippenberger, A.R. Penck, William Wegman, Christian Boltanski and Mimmo Paladino.
Gradually, Bongers developed his own artistic photographic practice, gaining recognition, winning awards and exhibiting his work nationally and internationally. Alongside his autonomous work, he undertook various projects during the 1980s and 1990s for Stuyvesant in Cuba, Ballantine’s whisky in Scotland and Philips Lighting in the Netherlands.
In 2012, Bongers signed a contract with the Italian gallery Photology. This led to exhibitions in an international context, presenting his work alongside that of artists and photographers including Vik Muniz, Martin Parr, Elisabetta Benassi, Andrea Jemolo, Mario Cresci, Davide Bramante, Matthew Pillsbury and Yasumasa Morimura.
In 2013, following an armed robbery at his home, a shift occurred in Bongers’ work. In the years that followed, he focused primarily on exploring the tension between poetry and suspense in photography and film. His images navigated the space between beauty and unease, between what is revealed and what remains hidden.
Over time, his artistic focus gradually moved towards a more contemplative visual language. The narrative tension of his earlier work gave way to an exploration of abstraction, spirituality and minimalism. His attention increasingly turned towards what lies beyond the visible image: silence, intuition, suggestion and the subtle presence of an inner world. Rather than offering immediate answers, his work invites the viewer to slow down, look more deeply and remain open to what cannot easily be explained.
Bongers continues to work in thematic series, each representing a distinct visual and conceptual exploration. His approach is intuitive and experimental, allowing images to emerge through a process of discovery. For him, photography is not merely a means of recording reality, but a way of transforming it — of revealing unexpected dimensions and creating space for personal interpretation and emotional resonance.
An important series within his oeuvre was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Fascinated by her enigmatic smile, Bongers set out to explore the emotions, personalities and possible inner worlds concealed behind it. Through a free and intuitive photographic process, he developed a personal encounter with the iconic image, moving beyond literal representation to explore its mystery. The series attracted the attention of Photology and was presented in Milan and Noto as part of the exhibition Mona Lisa Smile, alongside works by several internationally renowned artists and photographers.
Bongers is currently exhibiting at Photology in Look At Me Twice, alongside artists including Andy Warhol, Bill Viola, Vik Muniz, Martin Parr, Jeff Wall, Helmut Newton and Ed Ruscha. The exhibition reflects the continuing dialogue between his work and the broader international art and photography scene.
Throughout the different phases of his career, Bongers has remained committed to exploring the relationship between the visible and the intangible, between image and emotion. Whether working with suspense, poetry, abstraction, or stillness, he seeks to create photographs that extend beyond their immediate appearance — images that invite us not only to look, but also to feel.
education
1976 - 1980 Academy of Fine Arts, Maastricht
awards
Finalist Art Takes Soho
Honorable mention The Family of Man
Finalist Art Takes Paris
Honorable mention The Lucie Awards, New York
Nominee Noortman Art Prize, Maastricht
First prize Los Angeles Art Competition
Merit Award Current Works, Kansas City
Finalist Focus International Event, San Francisco
Finalist Ferguson Award, San Francisco
Finalist New York Art Competition
Honorable mention Zagreb Photo Awards
exhibitions
2026 - Gallery Photology, Look At Me Twice, Art & Photography Dispute For Supremacy. Some of the participating artists include: Vik Muniz, Bill Viola, Martin Parr, Andy Warhol, Nan Goldin, and Ed Ruscha.
2019 - PCNW, Innovation at the Intersection of Science, Technology and Photography, Seattle
2018 - Art Basel Scope Miami, Miami
2018 - Art Takes Soho, New York City
2017 - PCNW 21st juried (Sandra Phillips, curator emeritus, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) exhibition
2016 - Gallery S&H de Buck, Ghent
2015 - Gallery Géraldine Banier, Paris
2014 - Times Square show, New York City
2013 - Art Takes Paris, Paris
2013 - Gallery Photology, Noto
2012 - Gallery Photology, Milan
2011 - OLV basiliek, Maastricht
2010 - Het Stadslab, Sittard
2008 - De Timmerfabriek, Maastricht
2006 - Art Festival, Maastricht
2005 - Los Angeles Art Fair
2004 - Art festival, Maastricht
2000 - SCP, Kansas City
1999 - De Vishal, Haarlem
1998 - Photo Festival, Naarden
1996 - Theatre, Beek
1995 - Center for Photographic Art, Carmel
1993 - AHA gallery, Maastricht
1992 - Art 54 gallery, New York City
1991 - Museum Den Tempel, Sittard
1990 - Travelling exhibition, Europe
1989 - Close-Up gallery, Antwerp
1988 - International Photo Exhibition, Zagreb
1988 - Art Center Oranjerie, Roermond
1987 - Photo Festival, Amsterdam
1986 - AHA gallery, Maastricht
1985 - Art Center Hanenhof, Geleen
1985 - Trajecta Contemporary Art, Maastricht
1984 - Trajecta Contemporary Art, Maastricht
1983 - Library, Maastricht
1982 - Terborg Castle
1981 - Art Academy gallery, Maastricht
collections
Several private collections, Europe, USA
Dream Line, Maasmechelen
Chamber of Commerce, Maastricht
Euro Graphics Center, Beek
Walram College, Sittard
S.B.K. Zeeland
S.B.K. De Nobelaer
S.B.K. Utrecht
P.B.C. Houten
publications
Trajecta
Zagreb Photo Awards
Current Works
Art Photography Belgium
Megazine
Exit Magazine
Legal Stuff
Foto
Focus
Best of 2009 Photography Anthology
Financieel Dagblad
Volkskrant
NRC
Metro Greece