171project.space x KunstRAI 2026
Participating Artists

Curated by... Francis Boeske Projects

Barbara Walbrun
Danielle Kwaaitaal
Thijs Swinkels
Bart Verburg

Bram van Leeuwenstein
Joost Bakker
Joost van Ophem
Donna Verheijden

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Barbara Walbrun
Together #2, 2026

Spraypaint on wood veneer
15,7 x 21 cm

Barbara Walbrun (b. 1993, Netherlands) Her artworks are known for her optical illusions and spray-painted works that challenge perception. She co-founded the art collective Mestlab31 in 2018 and has exhibited at venues like ACEC Apeldoorn and Galerie Zijlstra in Arnhem.

Read more on the WindowTalk Exhibition Bewegende Beelden by Barbara here

Danielle Kwaaitaal
Zephyr Series, Anise | 2021-2026

Fine Art Pigment Print | mounted on Dibond | Framed behind museum glass
40 x 57 cm

Danielle Kwaaitaal (b. 1964, Netherlands) Kwaaitaal already works for years steadily on an extensive photographic oeuvre in which she thematises water.

Water signifies weightlessness and the absence of time. It is a medium that allows me to turn reality upside-down. – Danielle Kwaaitaal

Since 2008 her well known series Florilegium came into being, followed by Ultraviolet, Zephyr and Sole Series. They are Still-Lives, objects in glass, ceramic, perfume bottles or old glass, from the so-called archaeological finds, dating back to the 17th and 18th century.
The most recent series are: Mirage and Fluorescent.

Read more on the WindowTalk Exhibition Liquid Aperture by Danielle here

Thijs Swinkels
Pink mirror object | 2025

Glass
55 x 35 cm
2023 - 2025

Thijs Swinkels (b. 1995, The Netherlands) studied at ArtEZ in Arnhem, academy of the arts. With his glass objects he searches for forms that challenge and inspire him, with diverse architecture as a primary source. He applies this to glass by pushing the material to its absolute limits.

Where glass naturally assumes rounded forms, he seeks out boundaries, challenging himself by incorporating sharp angles into his objects. Twice a year he travels with his designs to Sweden, where he works alongside a team of glassblowers to realise his work. Driven by a love for technique, he is building a glass-blowing machine that forms the basis for designing the moulds. The machine evolves with each visit, continually expanding the boundaries of what glass can achieve. Through this process, Studio Thijs Swinkels creates unique and refined objects.

Joost Bakker
p a s s a g g i o | 2023

charcoal on paper
90 x 60 cm

Joost Bakker (b. 1977, Netherlands) Until now drawings and living drawings (seemingly endless stop-motion animations) form the biggest part of Bakker’s practice. The themes of interest vary, but phenomena such as time(lessness) and also (non)duality are inspiring and therefore recurring topics. These express themselves in various forms from eye-stumbling light-drawings to monumental architectural designs to simple plain drawings with a suggestive character.

Language also plays a role. Words, letters, signs, titles and drawings often fuse into a semiotic play in which appearing meanings constantly seem to change. Find more information on Joost Bakker here

Bart Verburg
light | 2026

Earthenware, Pigment, Glaze
39,5 cm ⊘

Bart Verburg (b. 1960, Netherlands) Is renown as a mail-art artist, corresponding with artists from Japan, USA and Europe, in an intimate and personal way, by quoting on each others artworks.

Bart builds his images from scattered sketches, human figures traced from newspaper photos, parts of logos, he (re)arranges, searches, and plays with all these fragments until a new story emerges. His work on paper reflects this collage-like process of discovery and creation.

Next to paintings, which are never finished, a continuous process of repainting as like a never ending conversation, with himself.

Bram van Leeuwenstein
Translucent Whispers

Various Sizes
2023 - ongoing

Bram van Leeuwenstein (b. 1987, Netherlands) Is specialised in porcelain and ceramics, he also engages in welding, set design, interior design, and sculpture. Notably, he co-created the "Little White World" dinnerware set for the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam, blending functionality with imaginative design.

Due to a recent residency at the EKWC he experimented with Bone China clay to make a series of Lamps which are all unique by applying almost painterly special pigments and different tools to change the surface of the ceramic skin: carving.

Together with Donna Verheijden, he co-founded 171project.space

Donna Verheijden
Flow I | 2026

Digital rendering, screen, oakwood
45 x 28 cm

Donna Verheijden (b. 1989, Netherlands) Main focus is video art. Implanting research as a leading source, her work critically examines media influence, archival practices and power structures in contemporary society.

She co-founded 171project.space in Arnhem and teaches at ArtEZ University of the Arts Arnhem.

Joost van Ophem
To Record Only Water
For Ten Days | 2026

Analogue print on Ilford
Multigrade V paper
30 x 30 cm

Joost van Ophem (The Netherlands) is a photographer and sound artist working on both analogue darkroom photography and immersive shoegaze soundscapes. His self-made film prints render intimate, cinematic representations and textured urban studies with a tactile, raw aesthetic. Under the moniker VierNulVier he composes imposing, otherworldly soundscapes. Rough, cinematic pieces that mirror the visual intensity of his images. Van Ophem’s practice bridges tactile photographic processes and immersive audio, creating atmospheric works that unfold like a lost memory.

He co-founded the record label Award Winning Records and has exhibited in his work in venues like Galerie Metruudsmit and Gallery Epix. Finds out more about Joost van Ophem here

Danielle Kwaaitaal
KunstRai Editie #1
Vanilla 2021 - 2026

Fine Art Pigment print on Canson Infinity Rag Photographique
45 x 31,5 cm

The work of Danielle Kwaaitaal operates at the intersection of painting and digital photography. Until recently, her photographic oeuvre was characterised by underwater still lifes of flowers and objects.

In this series, Zephyr (or Zefier) refers to the Greek god of the west wind: a soft, favourable wind. An apparently casual collection of glass bottles defines the image. These are not anonymous forms: each bottle was originally designed for a specific purpose. They are antique glass, often sourced from so-called archaeological finds, sometimes dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, including Haarlem oil bottles, medicine bottles and vintage perfume flacons.

Kwaaitaal has refilled these bottles, this time with coloured ink. It is precisely the traces of the past, the irregularities, the weathered surface, that create distinctive reflections and subtle distortions.

In this way, "group portraits" are created, in which each individual bottle is also shaped by the presence and properties of the others.

This work is available for purchase at KunstRAI at 171project.space | stand number 104.

Barbara Walbrun
Mariëndaal in Blue #12 |
2024

Spraypaint, Earthenware
20x25 cm

Discoveries – Original Art Under €750,-
During KunstRAI 2026, a special presentation will be set up featuring original artworks up to €750. In this presentation, participating galleries bring together a curated selection of works that lend themselves to discovery and collecting: from drawings and paintings to photography and small sculptures.

The work Mariëndaal in Blue #12 will be featured in this section!
Read more here

Discoveries – Original Art Under €750,-

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