BIO
For Dutch artist Ilona Plaum (b. 1970), our subconscious is an infinite treasure trove. In her meticulously staged photographic illusions, where scale models, drawing, and painting fuse into a hybrid reality, she seeks to free us from the familiar Western way of seeing and open us to a different dimension.She calls this dimension the boundless limbo land: a space within our consciousness where inside and outside dissolve, where time and distance no longer exist, where the notion of identity loses its hold, and where solid forms melt into fluid realities. For Plaum, it is a realm in which we are fundamentally connected with all matter surrounding us, experiencing the profound unity of life itself.
Plaum lives and works in Amsterdam. She studied Goldsmithing at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. She then developed further as an autonomous artist. Her work is included in private, museum and corporate collections in the Netherlands and abroad.
Articles
︎ NL / E
The land below the horizon. Notes 2010-2025
Author: Ilona Plaum / Monograph Presence︎ NL / E
Lured away from our trusted system of looking
Author: Hans den Hartog Jager / Monograph Presence︎NL
Newspaper Het Parool
Author: Kees Keijer ︎NL
Found in Photography
Author: Alex de Vries. Interview Art magazine Mister Motley︎NL
Common Ground
Author: Frank Maes. Catalog Nu nog de rest. Art platvorm Emergent (be)︎NL
Newspaper Het Parool
Author: Peter van Brummelen.
News
UMC, Amsterdam
Submission assignment hospital 2026
Residence, Arte Ventura, Seville
Southern Spain, june/july 2026
Und jetzt kommen die kamelen
Groupshow curated by Lucas Hoeben
Sept 2026
Past
Art Fair ‘Antwerp 5th’
11-14 december 2025, Antwerpen, (BE)
presented by gallery dudokdegroot, booth B43
2025 ‘Memento, photography interrupted’
Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography, Amsterdam (NL)
2025 ‘Energi di Amsterdam’
During artmanifestation ‘Oscillazioni 2025’ , Pontremoli, (IT). With works from Irene de boer, Peer Veneman, Thijs Rhijnsburger, en Riëtte Wanders.
2025 ‘Upclose’ (solo)
Amsterdam Art Week 2025, Gallerie dudokdegroot, A’dam (NL).
-
2025 ‘Presence’ (solo)
Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography, Amsterdam (NL).
2025 ‘Presence’ Booklaunch
First Monography published by Jap Sam books, designed by Janna Meeus, text by Ilona Plaum and writer-art critic Hans Den hartog jager.
Supported by Mondriaan fund, Jaapharten fund, stichting Niemijer fund.
2025 ‘Summer’
Studio Ertskade 19, Amsterdam (NL). Contributions by: Ilona Plaum, Lily van der Stokker, Tjebbe Beekman, Jos van Merendonk, Mariska Koolen, Andrei Roiter, Bettie van Haaster, Joost Krijnen, Harry Markusse, Irene de Boer, Benjamin Roth, Stan Klamer, Tim Mathijsen, Suzan Drummen, Piet Dieleman, Jochem van den Wijngaard, Peer Veneman, Marjolein de Wit, Berend Strik, Thijs Rijnsburger, Babs Bleeker.
2025 ‘Art Island’
Art Fair with artist from gallery dudokdegroot, Fort IJmuiden, IJmuiden(NL).
2025 ‘Well, How did I get here?’
37 PK platform for contemporary art, Haarlem, (NL). With contrabutions of Fransje Killaars, Marijn van Kreij, Roy Villevoye en Lucas Hoeben.
