David van Dartel, Boje, Ruben en Sil, 2020

Elliott Gallery, in collaboration with Klompching Gallery, is excited to announce This Time Tomorrow by David van Dartel. The exhibition will be on view from 7th March to 26th April 2024 at Klompching Gallery, in DUMBO, Brooklyn. David van Dartel, acclaimed Dutch Artist, presents a curated selection of his first two captivating and exceptionally successful series, On Vlieland and What Once Was, for the first time in New York. The two separate bodies of work – both accompanied by a limited-edition publication – create an imaginary portrayal of friendship and masculinity, very carefully stylized within striking natural landscapes.

David van Dartel, Sil Tijdens Vloed, 2017

David van Dartel, Oumar en Romeo, 2022

David van Dartel, Billiew en Paduey I, 2022

David van Dartel, Sil in Malaga, 2022

Initially exploring and documenting his close circle of friends on Vlieland, a remote island in the North of The Netherlands, Van Dartel then travelled to several European countries, constructing this vivid portrait of young adults, raising questions about male friendships and the classical discourse of masculinity.

“I want to show a world in which we acknowledge that everything and everyone is connected to each other. I believe we should emphasize the connection to nature more. One should have the freedom to give their own meaning to those connections, however, stereotypes limit this freedom. With What Once Was I want to show that masculinity eventually is all about humanity, and that humanity is always associated with a vulnerability and dependency to nature” says Van Dartel.

David van Dartel, Ryad, 2022

David van Dartel, Sil in de Schemering II, 2020

David van Dartel, Sil met een krekel, 2022

David van Dartel, Tian en Tomas II, 2022

David van Dartel (b. 1995) is a Dutch photographer, who has gained a significant international following for his work. He is an extremely talented and self-taught artist, launching his career at Elliott Gallery, in 2019. Since then, his work has attracted worldwide attention and is already in key-private collections around the world, including the USA, Canada, Spain, Israel, Australia, Switzerland and many more, as well as various publications including Die Zeit, De Volkskrant, Het Financieele Dagblad, De NRC, Harper’s Bazaar, iD-Magazine, De Groene Amsterdammer.

David grew up in the Dutch countryside, in a small village in Overijssel, where he started experimenting with self-portraiture in the fields and forests around him, while nurturing his fascination for landscape photography. This love of portrait and landscape photography naturally evolved and has resulted in him combining people and landscapes within his images, creating gentle, but also, often by contrast, dramatically atmospheric and striking photographs.

David van Dartel, Sil in de Regen, 2020

David van Dartel, Billiew en Paduey II, 2022

David van Dartel, Bloemen in Malaga, 2022

Van Dartel’s first series Op Vlieland is an astonishing body of work taken on the rugged West Frisian Island in the Dutch Wadden Sea that celebrates those near to him – his closest friends. Having visited Vlieland since childhood, van Dartel has a deep affinity with the Island, clearly reflected in his body of work.

“The Op Vlieland series represents My Vlieland. The physicality of the island provides me the opportunity for an ideal image, the imaginary island. It resonates with my ideal, the culmination of where and who I want to be.”

David van Dartel, Sil in de Polder II, 2020

David van Dartel, Alessio en Filippo, 2022

David van Dartel, Kaïs en Ryad, 2022

Following the immense success of his inaugural solo exhibition and the Op Vlieland series, van Dartel announced his first book, This Time Tomorrow, published by MENDO in 2020. In van Dartel’s second series, What Once Was, he once again delves into the portrayal of friendship and masculinity, creating a vivid portrait of young adults in several European countries, carefully stylised, but still very close to his sense of friendship. The series raises questions about the classical discourse of masculinity. The series is launched together with his second book, What Once Was, with Dutch poet Roelof ten Napel, writing short essays and fragments to accompany the photographs.

David van Dartel: This Time Tomorrow
March 7 – April 26, 2024
Elliott Gallery / Klompching Gallery
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