is an Amsterdam-based visual artist whose paintings and drawings explore an intimate reality that does not immediately reveal itself. She studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam from 1979 to 1985, where she later returned as a lecturer – a role she has maintained since 1989, contributing to several international educational projects in Europe and Asia.
Observation is the point of departure in her work, yet never as a passive act. Instead, she treats perception as an active, relational process in which meaning shifts and emerges gradually. Her imagery often carries a poetic, almost dream-like quality – in the words of one art critic, her paintings possess “the suggestive power of a fairy tale,” as if she were “painting with a magic wand.”
A recurring motif in her artistic language is hair – strands, tangled forms, floating lines and woven structures that traverse the surface like organic landscapes. Through density, texture, rhythm and layering, she transforms a familiar element into something abstract, tactile and open to interpretation. The works evolve through actions such as hanging, drifting or balancing, resulting in compositions that hover between precision and spontaneity.
Since her first solo exhibition in Amsterdam in 1988, Juul van den Heuvel has presented her work widely in the Netherlands and abroad, including exhibitions in major European art centres. Her recent projects further expand her artistic vocabulary: in The Legacy / De nalatenschap (2019), she used family objects, drawings and artifacts to build a sensitive reflection on memory, inheritance and the traces we leave behind.
Across more than three decades, van den Heuvel has developed a distinctive body of work that is both personal and universal. Her art invites viewers to slow down, to look closely, and to find beauty in what is fragile, hidden and fleeting — transforming the ordinary into the quietly extraordinary.
Juul van den Heuvel (1959)
Curriculum vitae
Juul van den Heuvel
Geboren 28 mei 1959 te Amsterdam
Opleiding
1979 - 1985 Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam
Persoonlijke exposities
1988 * Galerie D’Eendt, Amsterdam (met Peter Keizer)
1989 * Amro Bank, Amsterdam
1990 * Galerie Daane, Amsterdam
1990 * Seasons Galleries, Den Haag
1991 * Galeria Ferran Cano, Barcelona/ Palma de Mallorca
1991 * Galerie Brinkman, Amsterdam
1994 * De Verdieping, Amsterdam
1994 * Voorstraat 69, Noordwijk-Binnen
1996 * Suzanne Biederberg Gallery, Amsterdam
1996 * Bank Labouchere, Amsterdam
1999 * “Herinnering”, Suzanne Biederberg Gallery, Amsterdam
( met Hans van der Pas )
2001 * Pulchri Studio, ( met Andre van den Heuvel ) Den Haag
2002 * “Een kijkje in de keuken”, De Branderij, Antwerpen
( met Jurriaan van Hall )
2004 * Pulchri Studio, Den Haag
2006 * Suzanne Biederberg Gallery,
“Let your hair hang down”, Amsterdam
2009 * Draw together “ met Liesbeth Pallesen. Suzanne Biederberg Gallery
2011 * Black Black Black A Gallery- Amsterdam
2011 * Het Oude Raadhuis- Aalsmeer
2013 *Window Gallery” Amsterdam
2019 * Suzanne Biederberg Gallery The legacy Amsterdam
2024 * Losdok “ Amsterdam
2026 * Suzanne Biederberg Gallery Amsterdam
Groepsexposities
1986 * Stipendium tentoonstelling, Den Haag
1987 * Twaalf jonge kunstenaars, S.B.K., Amsterdam
1987 * Jong talent, Galerie D’Eendt, Amsterdam
1988 * Art 19’88 Basel (Galerie D’Eendt)
1989 * Galerie Daane, Amsterdam
1990 * Kunst RAI, Amsterdam (Galerie Daane)
1991 * Art 22’91 Basel (Galerie Daane)
1991 * De Boer, Warmerhuizen
1991 * De Boer, Amsterdam
1993 * Statengalerie, Den Haag
1996 * Expozee, N.H. Kapel, Noordwijk aan Zee
1998 * Kunst RAI, Amsterdam
(Galerie Suzanne Biederberg)
1999 * De keuze van de kunstkritiek, Nieuwspoort, Den Haag
1999 * Foyers minins de France, Parijs
1999 * Barbie 1950-1999, De Bijenkorf, Amsterdam
2000 * Safra, Arte Contemporanea da Holanda,
Evora, Portugal
2000 * Arte Holandesa Contemporanea,
Centro Cultural de Cascais, Portugal
2001 * Kunst RAI, Amsterdam
( Suzanne Biederberg Gallery )
2003 * Paradise Regained, de Oranjekerk, Amsterdam
2005 * Groen Licht, bouwput Noord/zuidlijn, Amsterdam
2006 * Melbourne Artfair, Suzanne Biederberg Gallery
2006 * De Compagnie, Dordrecht
(met Jurriaan van Hall)
2007 * Klank en Kleurfestival, Amsterdam
2008 * Pulchri Studio, met Francoise Stoop, Den Haag
2009 * Suzanne Biederberg Gallery,
“Draw together”, met Liesbeth Pallesen
2009 * Landgoed Klein Offem, Noordwijk
(met Maja en Jurriaan van Hall)
2009 * Het Oude Raadhuis, Aalsmeer,
Groepstententoonstelling
(van Hall/ van den Heuvel)
2009 * Buro Weesperzijde, Amsterdam
( met Jurriaan van Hall )
2011 * Pulchri Studio, Den Haag
2012 * Reuten Gallerie, Amsterdam
2013 * WG kunst, Amsterdam
2014 * Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam
2014 * WG kunst, Amsterdam
2014 * Het Kruithuis, Den Bosch
2015 * AMC, Brummelkamp Gallerie
2015 * Pulchri Studio, Den Haag
2020 * Arti et Amicititia Nieuwe leden tentoonstelling Amsterdam
2023 * Arti et Amicititia Salon Amsterdam
2024 * Arti et Amicititia Salon Amsterdam
Onderwijs activiteiten
Docent Gerrit Rietveld Academie (vanaf 1989)
Docent Artemis (vanaf 2002)
Docent Hiko Mizuno College of Jewellery - Tokyo 2011
Docent Feed Europe Project 2014 Vincence- Venice Bienalle
Docent Ateliers 89 Aruba 2014
Toegepaste opdrachten
Verschillende illustraties en boekomslagen
Teken en animatie werk
Muurschilderingen en muurtekeningen
Bibliographie
1990 * Kunstbeeld. Saskia Monshouer:
“Meespelen met Juul van den Heuvel”
1990 * Haagse Courant. Cees van der Geer:
“Van den Heuvel volgt haar hart”
1990 * Het Binnenhof. Hans Oerlemans:
“Het levensspel opgetekend door
Juul van den Heuvel”
1991 * NRC Handelsblad. RenŽ Steenbergen:
“Van den Heuvel bij Brinkman”
1991 * El Peri—dico de Palma. Arte:
“Los juegos de Juul van den Heuvel”
1994 * Alert. Hennie van der Louw:
“Juul in “t diepe”
1999 * Kunstbeeld. Saskia Monshouer:
“Atelier signalen”
1999 * De Telegraaf. Paola van Velde:
“Schilderes uitverkoren door kunstkritiek”
1999 * De keus van de kunstkritiek.
Uitgave Internationaal Pers Centrum.
Ed Wingen:
“Schilderen met een toverstaf”
2000 * Arte Contemporanea da Holanda,
Safra Harvast.
2001 * “Juul” (monografie).
Uitgave Stichting HallArt Foundation,
Noordwijk
(ISBN 90 80 6282 1 2)
2019 De Nalatenschap
2019 * NRC Een nalatenschap die troost. Arjan Ribbens