17. Olivia van Kuiken

Artist Olivia van Kuiken discusses intentional misdirection, how she is thinking about language through painting, engaging with the architectural element of her work, and more. This conversation is concerned primarily with the work in her recent show “Bastard Rhyme” at Matthew Brown Gallery in New York. Olivia van Kuiken (b. 1997 in Chicago, Illinois) is a New York based artist. She received a BFA in Studio Art at Cooper Union, New York, 2019. Solo Exhibitions include Losing looking leaving, Caprii, Düsseldorf (2024); Beil Lieb, Château Shatto, Los Angeles (2024); Make me Mulch!, Chapter NY, New York (2023); She clock, me clock, we clock, King’s Leap, New York (2022). Select group exhibitions include the Lord will spit out the lukewarm, Bortolami, New York (2025); What are you looking for?, curated by Brandy Carstens, Société, Berlin (2025); Meet me by the lake, CLEARING, New York (2024); Mad Monk, Micki Meng, New York (2024); A Modern Disease, curated by Cooper Brovenick, New York (2024); Manic Pixie Nightmare Drawings, Adler Beatty, New York (2024); Anything can pass before the eyes of a person, Derosia, New York (2023); Works on Paper: 100 Years, Amanita, New York (2023); Supper Club, As it Stands, Los Angeles (2023); Oceans of Time, Château Shatto, Los Angeles (2022); Elective Affinities, Chapter NY, New York (2022); Bright lights, big city, no fun, Shoot the Lobster, New York (2022); La Saison Creuse, Hoffman Maler Wallenburg, Nice (2022). Olivia’s Instagram: @livankuiken Reference links: Bernini, Chair of St. Peter (1657–1666) Barnett Newman, Vir Heroicus Sublimis (1950-51) Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias (1818) Tove Jansson, The Summer Book (1972) Rembrandt, Self-Portrait with Two Circles (1665-1669) Taryn Simon, Image Atlas (2012) Beyoncé, AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM (2022) Cap’n Jazz, Scary Kids Scaring Kids (1998) my bloody valentine, mbv (2013)