Phelim Hoey
info@phelim-hoey.nl
Amsterdam-based visual artist Phelim Hoey (b. 1984, NL/IE) studied documentary photography at the School of the Arts (HKU) in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Here, in his first days at art school, Hoey encountered a series of optical difficulties. These difficulties were among the early symptoms of MS, a neurological illness with which he was formally diagnosed a few months later. His practice would subsequently acquire new meaning as a possible agent of healing, offering an important creative outlet for studying his condition, as well as the potential for tracing the ever-changing relationship he experiences with his body.
Incorporating a varied range of media – whether photography, film, ceramics or sculptural installation – Hoey’s work can be read as a form of conceptual storytelling. In fragile materials, or delicate still-lives depicting precariously-balanced objects, his works are wrought with a pronounced sense of vulnerability and tension. Small traces of annotated medical documents, obscured by fragmented sketching and images, recall clinical understandings of Hoey’s condition: a distant language that rarely speaks to the nuances of his own experience. Elsewhere, Hoey deploys quasi-scientific studies of motion – referencing photographic pioneers like Eadward Muybridge and Etienne-Jules Marey _ underlining yet further the separation he observes between the physical body and his broader sense of ‘self’.
- Bio by George King
Awards, grants and residencies
▪ 2021 ArtProof Production grand, Foto Tallinn.
▪ 2020 Amsterdamse Fonds voor de Kunsten (AFK), Project grant for 'Approaching immeasurability'
▪ 2019 (Jan - Apr) Residency, Air Berlin Alexanderplatz, Berlin.
▪ 2018 Mondriaan Fund, Residency contribution.
▪ 2017 - 2018 Mondriaan Fund, Young Talent Award.
Study
▪ 2013 Internship with Jan Adriaans (www.janadriaans.com)
▪ 2010 – 2014 Photography, Bachelor of Design with honours, at the Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU), Utrecht
Exhibitions (selected)
▪ La Machine new chapter Therbligs, ‘Images Are All We Have’, Photo Ireland (Dublin Castle), 7th July - 28th August 2022, Dublin, Ireland
▪ La Machine new chapter Therbligs, ‘Someone lives in this body’ P-ost platform, April - June 2022, Arnhem, The Netherlands
▪ Encontros da imagem, Discovery Awards, 17th of September to the 31st of October 2021, Braga, Portugal.
▪ Foto Tallinn, Kai Art Center, 2th of September to the 5th of September, Tallinn, Estonia.
▪ PEP Berlin, December 2020 - March 2021. Be-Part Berlin, Germany,
▪ 404 Page not found, September 2020. Kunstenhuis Harelbeke, Belgium, (Curated by Frank Merkx)
▪ La Machine, 2019, New Irish Works, Museum of Contemporary Art Dublin, Ireland.
▪ La Machine, 2019, Antidote, Herman van Veen Arts Center, Soest, The Netherlands.
▪ La Machine, 2019, Exhibition Prospects and Concepts (Mondriaan Fund) Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
▪ La Machine, 2018, Dummy book workshop, Museum of Contemporary art, Kuldiga, Latvia.
▪ City built by fear. 2017. Book presentation and exhibition, Cultureel centrum 't fijnhout Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
▪ Absence of existence. 2016. THIS, Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
▪ Absence of existence. 2015. NEU/NOW Elia, Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
▪ Absence of existence. 2015. In Other Words, Hogeschool van de Kunsten, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
▪ City built by fear. 2015. Unseen photo fair (sideshow), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
▪ City built by fear. 2015. NEW talent, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
▪ Gas, penisses and a monkey-man. 2014. Academie Galerie, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
▪ Teresa/Peter. 2013. EKKO, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
▪ Provocation. 2013. Inspectie van het onderwijs, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Books
▪ City built by fear (2017), Peeters, T. & Hoey, P. (SOLD OUT)
Presentations
▪ Sept 2020 - Fotokroniek. 'La machine' Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam,
▪ April 2019 - Salon Air Berlin Alexanderplatz, Berlin, Germany - Presentation results research period
▪ March 2019 - Beyond the ring, Berlin, Germany - Presentation work 'La Machine'
▪ January 2019 - LAB Air Berlin Alexanderplatz, Berlin, Germany - Presentation work method 'La Machine'
▪ Juli 2018 - ISSP summer school Latvia, Kuldiga, Latvia - Presentation 'La Machine (work in progress)'
▪ City built by fear. 2017. Book presentation and exhibition, Cultureel centrum 't fijnhout Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
▪ November 2015 – Mediamatic, Biotoop, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Presentation: ‘Absence of Existence’.
▪ November 2015 – De kennis van nu (Present knowledge) In science festival, Nijmegen, The Netherlands – Presentation: ‘ Absence of Existence'’.
Publications
▪ Foam Magazine: In Limbo. 'La machine' portfolio publication and interview, september 2020
▪ Publication: Musée Magazine: Issue #24. 'La machine' portfolio publication and interview, september 202
▪ Lensculture: When bodies misbehave. 'La Machine' in an essay by Joanna Creswell (august 2020)
(https://www.lensculture.com/articles/when-bodies-when-bodies-misbehave)
▪ Unseen Magazine: When bodies misbehave. 'La Machine' in an essay by Joanna Creswell (March 2020)
▪ Royal Photographic Society Journal: Photo ireland Festival. (may 2019)
▪ PIB Berlin, publication March 2019, Berlin, Germany
▪ Totally Dublin: In the Frame #1, Part of 'La Machine' 2019, Dublin, Ireland
▪ Foam Magazine: Back to the future. 'Absence of Existence' in an essay by Caroline von Courten. (2018)
▪ Book: Peeters, T. & Hoey, P. City built by fear. (2017)
▪ [Contribution to a book chapter]: Peeters, T. & Hoey, P. (2016). City built by fear, in T. Decorte & D. Zaitch, Kwalitatieve methoden en technieken in de criminologie, Leuven, Belgium: Acco.
▪ [Book contribution]: Hoey, P. & Peeters, T. (2015) City built by fear. In: New Photo: Dutch photography talent 2016, Amsterdam: Xpublishers.