On Experimentation and Intimacy
In Conversation with Viviane Sassen
Join us on Saturday 30 November for a special artist talk with photographer Viviane Sassen. In an intimate interview format, host Munganyende will dig deeper into the work and the journey of her practice, including her use of shadows and how her mental health impacted her as an artist.
From her early African-inspired work to her more recent experiments in interventionist techniques, Viviane Sassen has gained international acclaim for her striking, dynamic images that explore a range of themes and subjects—from identity, gender, and the body, to race, fashion, and the environment.
During the evening, get to know the work of Viviane Sassen through 2 parts: a tour through the exhibition by a Foam museum teacher, followed by an artist talk hosted by Munganyende Hélène Christelle. Alongside Sassen's work, we will also discuss the challenges emerging photographers face today. How do you develop an authentic style in times of rapid technical developments and emerging techniques, and how can image-makers relate to it?
After the talk there will be a book signing of Phosphor by Viviane Sassen. This retrospective book brings together both well and lesser-known works and includes pieces from her recent series. You'll be able to purchase the book directly at the signing.
About the exhibition
The Dutch contemporary artist Viviane Sassen rapidly gained worldwide recognition, both in the fashion industry and in the photography world. Her distinctive and eclectic visual oeuvre fills almost the entire building of Foam. This exhibition sheds light on Sassen’s creative process by focusing on two main themes: the incessant search for new photographic forms and the importance of intimacy in her work.
Sassen's oeuvre explores both the depths of human emotion and the boundaries of artistic expression. Death, sexuality, desire and connection with others are all motifs that structure her work. Renowned for her adept use of saturated colours, mastery of light and shadow, and distinctive depictions of the human body, Sassen's work is a testament to her artistic language. For Sassen, photography is a magical medium. For her, photography is like a mirror that reflects what is already inside us, and likewise a portal to another universe with infinite possibilities.
About the artist
Viviane Sassen (1972, Amsterdam) is a mixed-media artist. She studied fashion design, followed by photography at the Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU). Sassen spent her childhood in Kenya, where her experiences served as the initial inspiration for her images. She later returned to Africa, creating the series Flamboya (2008), Parasomnia (2011), and Lexicon (2014), through which she gained recognition with a broader audience. Sassen is acclaimed for both her visual art and innovative fashion photography, with numerous publications in her name, including in New York Times Magazine, i-D, Numéro, POP, AnOther, and Dazed. Additionally, she has collaborated with renowned fashion brands such as Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Cartier, Armani, and Hermès. Her work has been exhibited worldwide, and in 2007 she was awarded the Dutch art prize Prix de Rome.
About the host
Munganyende (Kigali, 1993) is an author and professor of Beyoncéology at ArtEZ Academy, where she researches sound and culture as a form of knowledge production. Munganyende writes poetry, fiction and nonfiction as feminist interventions that center the perspectives of black women and refugee daughters in literature, performance art and visual culture. She chairs the Steenbergen Stipend photography prize at the Nederlands Fotomuseum and is currently a fellow at De Groene Amsterdammer. Her debut novel will be published by Pluim Publishers. Munganyende is considered an important voice of her generation and has received several awards and honorable mentions, including the Unesco Literature Prize CCS Crone, ELLE 30 and VOGUE Voices. Munganyende is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA). In 2023, she was a resident at the Zanele Muholi Art Institution in Cape Town. In 2024, she was part of the LOATAD Black Atlantic residency program in Accra. Munganyende lives, works and loves between Dakar, Brussels and Amsterdam. Her favorite pronoun is “tante".
PHOSPHOR: Art & Fashion is organized in collaboration with the MEP - Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris.
This exhibition is made possible by the Blockbusterfonds, Fonds 21, Mondriaan Fonds, BeamSystems and Riwi ColloType.
Foam thanks Stichting Foam Friends and Foam Fund for their generous support of this exhibition.
Media partner: de Volkskrant.
On Experimentation and Intimacy
In Conversation with Viviane Sassen