Visual art
I hereby introduce Deplorables Maximus to you.
Pen and ink on paper
70 x70 cm
2026
Portraits of well known characters, faces intertwined.
The departure of these inglorious bastards begins with a deep and profound wish.
NO, it’s not a compliment if you’re in this picture.
Pen and ink on paper
70 x 69,3 cm
2026
The expression more or less is used to indicate an estimate or an approximation, but in a materialistic context, it’s a matter of give or take.
If the shopping cart were a reflection of our system, it would be clear what we need to do if we want to change the system: Leave it empty, don't supplement it, and it will have to adapt to a different standard in order to justify its existence.
Someone wise and influential once said: “The system will not change the rules; we will have to change the system.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
In this drawing, you’ll find a few deviations here and there, but the drawing is more or less an accurate representation of stacked shopping carts—shopping carts that more or less represent a “give or take” system.
Zienema KORT & KRACHT | SHORT & POWERFUL This coming Sunday at De Ploegh – National Artists’ Society & Gallery, Amersfoort.
As part of the side program for the Resistance exhibition, I will be screening four short art videos on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. that I created between 2020 and 2022.
1- Gibberish – (in collaboration with Ali Reza Tahoeni) (1:10)
2- OOOOH WELL – (in collaboration with Ali Reza Tahoeni) (1:26)
3- Revolution Will Not Be Televised _ (in collaboration with Ali Reza Tahoeni) (2:05)
4- Dedicated Follower – (6:44)
Consider this an invitation to admire a beautiful, multi-layered exhibition and, on top of that, to enjoy a brief yet powerful cinematic experience.
Incidentally, there’s a side program almost every weekend where you can see, read, and discuss more—for example, about the sculpture *NAKBA* by Michiel Deylius:
In addition to many beautiful artworks, the exhibition also features work by me and by Ahmed Aldaalsa.
Zienema SHORT & POWERFUL (KORT & KRACHT)
Sunday, June 21 | 3:00 p.m.
Galerie de Ploegh
Cultuurhuis bij Flint
Coninckstraat 58
3811 WK Amersfoort
No reservations are required; there will be plenty of opportunity to chat with one another. Hope to see you there!
June 11 till July 19 2026 – De Ploegh Gallery, Amersfoort
The Exhibition Resistance tries to interpret this loaded word artistically. As seen through the eyes and hands of the artists, this word proves that it can indeed be viewed and approached from many different angles; abstract, specific, personal, political, social, philosophical or psychological
This exhibition expresses resistance in various ways to contemporary developments and events such as: growing authoritarian tendencies, a government that bureaucratically crushes its citizens, the depletion of the earth, and addictive algorithms used by social media companies—there are so many reasons for resistance, the list goes on.
The intention of this exhibition is to make a visual statement, whether subtle or forceful.
Can art set something in motion?
Participating artist including myself are:
Ahmed Aldaalsa
Anna Belleforte
Barbara Bläsing
Myra Breukers
Michiel Deylius
Jan van Dijk
Boudewijn Korsmit
Maarten van der Laag
Guy-Gérard Ngono
Marit Otto and Linda Verkaaik
Galerie De Ploegh
(Cultuurhuis bij Flint) Coninckstraat 58
3811WK Amersfoort
(033) 475 07 70
info@deploegh.nl
Tue to Sun 13.00 – 17.00 uur
Free entrance
Opening: Sunday June 14- 3:00 p.m.
There is an interesting side program as well check the whole program here!
The creative process of a painting often takes place out of sight of the viewer. Many hours of labor lie behind the final image. With this, I would like to offer you a small glimpse behind the scenes.
Anecdote: I once bought two pencil sketches of male nudes at a gallery. These two nudes were created by students at the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam in the first half of the 20th century. It’s impossible to trace what became of the students, but the man seen from behind served as the inspiration for the man at the center of my canvas. The white areas are the reflection of the glass in the picture frame, which adds even more tension to the figure.
Pen and ink on papier
70 x 70 cm
2026
Iconic punk slogan becomes postpunk slogan with a slight deviation from the original NO FUTURE (Sex Pistols). A FUTURE
In the complete absence of a future, there is room only for a genuine wish.
A future can either give you wings, or weigh on you like lead.
Free Will 2026
Acrylic on canvas
180 x 100 cm
Part of the Sublime Comedy series
A man seen from behind is faced with a choice: turn left, turn right, or go straight. He has to choose, but he’d rather not—not now…
The paradox:
If you don’t have it, you want it.
If you have it, you want more.
If you have more, you want it all.
If you have it all, you want abundance.
If you have abundance, decision fatigue awaits.
If you choose arbitrarily, solid options fade away.
If you choose not to choose, others do the balancing.
Coming soon: International Group Exhibition ‘COMMON GROUND’ at Larry Gallery
This exhibition is curated by Nicolaes Devriendt, Larry Gallery, and showcases 27 international artist including myself.
27 artist will be presented on two locations in Courtrai, Belgium, over a six week period. It opens at January 29th to March 15th at these two locations: Koning Leopold I straat 26 & Groeningestraat 36.
I wil exhibit two of my latest works there; Sea Of Tranquility and Space Invaders.
“Common Ground reflects the gallery’s ongoing commitment to emerging talent. It reinforces an understanding of contemporary art that values depth, risk, and independence over instant legibility.”
This quote is attributed to: Kisito Assangni (Togolese-French curator, art consultant) who wrote an item about this upcoming exhibition in Artdependence Magazine.
You can read whole article here: https://artdependence.com/articles/common-ground-belgiums-most-anticipated-exhibition-of-emerging-artists-in-2026/
Participating Artists :
LARRY GALLERY
Exhibition Dates : January 29 – March 15
Locations: Groeningestraat 26, Kortrijk
Koning Leopold I Straat 26, Kortrijk
Pen and ink on Paper
70 x 70
2025
There is a prison that’s called freedom by its owner.
There is a story that’s called truth by a liar.
There is outrage that’s called civil by a demagogue.
There is a castle in the air that’s denying gravity
There are dead end streets that never lead to Rome
Where beauty is a face that looks like Silicon Valley
Where clickbait is a business model sold as creativity
There is a refugee thats named data in the Matrix
and she wants to go home.
(Thank you Prince for inspiring me with the lyrics from the song Welcome To America)
More drawings: https://maritotto.nl/pen-and-ink-drawing/
I hereby present to you ‘Heavenly Peace revisited (the imbalance of power)’
This pen drawing is a creative collaboration between myself and Ahmed Aldaalsa, an artist from Gaza. It expresses a feeling of powerlessness. Pen and ink on paper, 65 x 65 cm.
The image is based on an iconic image from 1989 in which the Chinese army violently suppressed a large-scale student protest. The student in the image, armed only with two plastic bags in both hands, stood motionless in protest in front of a line of giant tanks rolling into Tiananmen Square. He did not flinch when the front tank drove threateningly towards him. Nothing has been heard of the anonymous student in question since then.
Next to the student who seems frozen in time stands a young Palestinian man armed with a flag. Different time and place, same image, the powerless provoking the powerful. The direct confrontation with the overwhelming colossus is a symbolic act that he could never win.
Equity and human rights, can that be something of different consequence for one person than for another?
The powerless against the powerful, a David against a Goliath, but then the David of the past would be the Goliath of today.
More work by Ahmed is also to be seen in this exhibition: https://maritotto.nl/exhibition-how-can-anyone-lose-everything-he-owns-and-not-lose-his-mind/