ABOUT THE ARTIST

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Debbie Nijland is a visual artist who lives and works in France. Debbie grew up as the youngest child in a large working-class family in Amsterdam. In 1974, the family exchanged the capital for the countryside of West Brabant. Although her creative talent was evident from an early age, a formal art education remained out of reach for many years. It was not until the early 1990s that she began painting seriously, studying under the guidance of various artists.

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Debbie has been married to Peter den Haan since 2016. Together, they are proud of her two adult children and their partners, and they enjoy their two wonderful granddaughters and grandson.

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She studied Fine Art Painting at the IKO Academy of Art in Belgium. Her work moves between figurative and expressionist art, with the human figure often at the centre of her visual language. Debbie exhibits in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, and her work is represented in collections in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Greece and France.

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Some of the milestones in her exhibition history include:

2015 – ZomerExpo “Woest”: One of her works, Business as Usual, was exhibited for three months at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag. The work was unanimously selected by the jury from thousands of submissions, as featured in the AVRO television programme Kunstuur on 10 May 2015.

2017 – Galerie de Vis, Harlingen: again, one of her works was selected from thousands of submissions for the Salon des Refusés.

2018 – Stadsgalerij Breda: Nijland presented her major retrospective exhibition A B S O L U U T, featuring works created between 1993 and 2018.

2022 – Klimaatexpo: her photographic work The Abandoned Bride was selected from thousands of submissions for exhibition at Museum de Fundatie in Zwolle.

2024 – Painting of the Year: a work from her Once Upon A Time series was selected from thousands of submissions and exhibited for two months at Galerie RRMND in Roermond.

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In her work, Nijland explores themes such as power and the abuse of power, oppression, the position of women, and the influence of patriarchal structures. These themes inevitably find their way onto her canvases. Her paintings are often raw and contain elements of stillness and discomfort, but sometimes also humour and absurdity. The colours and forms may appear harmonious at first glance, yet beneath the surface there is a palpable tension and emotion. Debbie’s paintings have a flamboyant presence, expressed through their scale, rich colour palette, dynamic brushwork and expressive subject matter. She works primarily in a painterly manner and always with a direct, uncompromising approach. Her art is not an attempt to create a “beautiful picture”. The work is what it is.

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For Debbie, art is allowed to unsettle, provoke and raise questions. Humour and confrontation go hand in hand. Nijland’s works are not meant to make you dream away, but to keep you awake.

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Alongside her monumental oil paintings, she also explores new forms of expression. During the Dans Les Collines II 2026 exhibition, she is presenting twelve digital works for the first time alongside her oil paintings. These works form part of the same ongoing exploration of layering, texture and the tension between control and chance. For Debbie, art is about more than aesthetics. It challenges, raises questions and invites us to look differently. In Debbie Nijland’s work, beauty and rawness collide, creating paintings that continue to intrigue.

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“I have no patience for overly sensitive artistic souls. If a work doesn’t work, you have to be willing to face that. A trusted colleague with knowledge and experience should be able to tell you so. Is it no good? Then it’s no good. No sentimental fuss. Simply paint over it and start again.” Artists such as Marina Abramović, Artemisia Gentileschi, Francisco Goya, Neo Rauch, Johannes Grützke and Plautilla Nelli are among her sources of inspiration, each for very different reasons.

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Alongside her own artistic practice, Debbie Nijland organises the annual art event “Dans Les Collines” in France together with four fellow artists and friends. The exhibition brings together a diverse range of contemporary art. She also organises two fully catered painting weeks each year, including accommodation at the estate, giving women the opportunity to immerse themselves for an entire week in painting, art and wonderful food. In addition, she gives masterclasses and private lessons and mentors emerging artists.

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EDUCATION

2008–2013: IKO Academy of Art, Hoogstraten, Belgium – Fine Art Painting

2005–2007: Cultural Studies, Open University

2003–2009: Life Drawing

1998–2010: Painting with various artists in Etten-Leur (NL), Breda (NL), Chartreuse / La Valotte / Lormes (France)

1994–1997: Various communication training programmes at Stichting Communicatie, Breda

1993–2009: Drawing and painting classes, Cultureel Centrum Doornbos, Etten-Leur​