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After earning her degree in Visual Arts at the ArtEZ University of the Arts, Isabelle turned towards her primary medium of choice: photography. She is constantly looking for a narrative, a kind of serene tension in her work. The idea behind her still lifes is to bring objects to life and let them tell a story. Her photographs have a certain aesthetic quality, yet they are composed of raw elements that would rarely be considered aesthetic in and of themselves. Viewed from afar, her photographs seem to depict abstract images, but upon closer inspection, they turn out to be everyday—sometimes even banal—objects, whose textures that are nearly tangible. The effect is a visual alienation.
Websites
Image builder, mostly photography
www.isabellebacker.nlSocial media
Member of Artists’ Initiative/Collective/Incubator
Seelab
Platform
Curriculum vitae
Education
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2003 - 2004Philosophy UVA Amsterdam
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1999 - 2003Fine Arts Arnhem, ARTEZ, Academie Beeldende Kunst en Vormgeving diploma
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1998 - 1999Photography Foto Academie Amsterdam diploma
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2006Het spel en de knikkers (zakelijke kennis voor creatief ondernemers) Kunstenaars & Co
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2006Beter Communiseren, acquireren en presenteren Kunstenaars & Co
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2014graphic design year course Multimedia Lab, MK24
exhibitions
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2025N_W Art Gallery at ART The Hague ART The Hague Den Haag, Netherlands We’re excited to share that we’ll be at Art The Hague again, and this time we’re celebrating our 1-year anniversary there! Last year, we showed works by Hara Athanasopoulou and Jean-Marc Spaans. This year, they’re back with us, along with four other artists. At this edition, we will present works by Lennart Heiner, Isabelle Backer, Jean-Marc Spaans, Daniel Heikens, Gillian Bolton and Hara Athanasopoulou. artthehague.nl/portfolio/n_w-gallery/ Group
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2025Exhibition '+1' N_W Art Gallery Den Haag, Netherlands As a final celebration of the wonderful year we had before we temporarily close for renovation, we've invited all of the amazing artists that we've had the pleasure of working with, along with inviting them to bring a +1 to have some new faces in the gallery. www.n-w.gallery/ Group
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2025Between the lines N_W Art Gallery Den Haag, Netherlands Between the Lines brings together five contemporary artists who each explore the expressive and conceptual possibilities of abstract visual language. Across diverse media — from photography to sculpture — the exhibition reveals how abstraction, often built around line and structure, can evoke rhythm, movement, and spatial tension in unexpected ways. Daniel Heikens and Isabelle Backer both use analog photography to capture striking compositions discovered within the environment. While Heikens focuses on urban geometries and spatial tension, Backer subtly transforms everyday details into near-abstract images that question our perception of the familiar. Jean-Marc Spaans creates painterly works using long-exposure photography and neon light trails. His images record motion over time, turning light into sweeping gestures that recall both performance and painting. Minimalism and restraint define the work of Tineke Porck, whose delicate drawings and objects reduce form to its essentials. Her visual language is one of balance and silence, inviting viewers into a space of quiet observation and reflection. In contrast, Lenny Stöpp pushes against convention with sculptural works that challenge form and function. Through playful transformations of material and scale, his pieces navigate the boundary between object and idea. Together, these artists offer a multifaceted exploration of abstraction — not only as a visual strategy, but as a way of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world. Between the Lines invites viewers to slow down, to look again, and to find meaning in the spaces where nothing seems to be. www.n-w.gallery/ Group
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2024Grabbelton The Grey Space Den Haag, Netherlands Grabbelton is an eclectic day of local art and photography, engaging talks, live music, food, and a (vintage) shop. Feel welcome, get weird, and be inspired! thegreyspace.net/program/grabbelton-3-2-2024/ Group
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2024Fibrous Nature in Textured Landscape Galerie Sophie Den Haag, Netherlands A curated exhibition, on display are paper installations and wall objects, plant and photographic work. An ode to what you find and can find again in the materials from your immediate environment. jegensentevens.nl/2023/10/a-journey-through-alleyways-bureacracy-and-the-hague-hoogtij-74/ Group
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2018Getting Green Cinema Paradiso Soneva Fushi, Maldives A short film showing a compilation of green plant portraits and jungle still lifes, focusing on the exquisite beauty of the plants and trees growing the jungle of Soneva Fushi an island in the Maldives (Baa Atoll) . I was there for three months helping out with a sustainable, circular design project. Fulfilling a documentary as well as an artistic role in the project. Check our blog. Next to that I’ll create my own photographic work. isabellebacker.nl/post/176586441855/jungle-movie-a-short-film-showing-a-compilation Solo
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2017ZomerExpo’s Salon des Refusés SBK Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands Een groepstentoonstelling samengesteld uit deelnemers aan de voorronde Zomerexpo 2017, met het thema Water. zomerexpo.nl/algemeen/salon-des-refuses/ Group
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2017Venstâh Festival Designkwartier 2017 Den Haag, Netherlands These ‘window portraits’ are all shot in and around my own neighbourhood in Den Haag. Everyday, sometimes even banal details or objects are the subject of my pictures. By enlarging them and taking them from their normal context they get a new identity. festivaldesignkwartier.nl/deelnemers# Solo
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2017Venstâh Melkweg Amsterdam, Netherlands These ‘window portraits’ are all shot in and around my own neighbourhood in Den Haag. Everyday, sometimes even banal details or objects are the subject of my pictures. By enlarging them and taking them from their normal context they get a new identity. www.melkweg.nl/nl/agenda/isabelle-backer-26-04-2017/ Solo
Projects
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2013
1000 Photos The Grand Finale 1000Photos The works of well-known artists, students, aspiring photographers are sold to raise funds for the Eye Care Foundation.
International exchanges/Residencies
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2018Eydhafushi, Maldives
Commissions
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2015Museum De Hallen Haarlem Nederland Beelden maken ter illustratie voor Museum tijdschrift TOON. finished
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2015Gelato Burano Utrecht Fotowerk 'IJssmaken' voor in winkel finished
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2015Tekstcecile Amsterdam Portretopdracht finished
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2015Jonge Strijkers Amsterdam Amsterdam Portret/sfeer fotografie finished
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2015Jonker Abeln Amsterdam Portretopdracht finished
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2015Rendersupply Amsterdam Portretopdracht finished
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2015MooiRuim Utrecht Beelden voor Website finished
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2014Naomi Bach Amsterdam Portretopdracht finished
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2014Y Tjong Amsterdam Portretopdracht finished
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2013Stichting SKOR Amsterdam Fotografie Kunstwerken Openbare ruimte finished
Sales/Works in collections
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2022This is not a Palmtree SPACES MALMÖ MALMÖ, Zweden The company 'Spaces' has purchased four works from the series 'This is not a Palm Tree' to hang in their flexible workspaces.
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2018Jungle/Bear/Paars (particuliere aankoop) Amsterdam, Nederland 3 images from different series
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2017Vincent Kouters (particuliere aankoop) Amsterdam/Nederland Particuliere aankoop van foto uit expo TOON Amsterdam
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2015Zoe Elisabeth Gottehrer (particuliere aankoop) Amsterdam/Nederland Aankoop van 3 werken, 2 van expositie in de Soepboer, 1 uit archief.
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2015Gelato Burano Utrecht Foto voor zitruimte/winkelruimte Utrecht
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2015Helen Brandenburg (particuliere aankoop) Rotterdam Werk uit archief
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2014Nicola Reiter (particuliere aankoop) Amsterdam/Nederland Foto uit serie 'kippen'.
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2014Emile Berckmoes(particuliere aankoop) Amsterdam Kunstwerk speciaal gemaakt voor koper
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2014Maaike Ebbinge(particuliere aankoop) Texel Werk uit archief
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2013Particuliere aankoop Amsterdam/Nederland Foto uit serie 'meeuwen' verschenen in NRC.
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2013Ingeloste Koster (particuliere aankoop) Bilthoven Foto uit serie 'meeuwen'
Publications
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2014Verzameling Het Parool (krant) De serie 'Vlaggen' pagina vullend geplaatst in PS van Het Parool tijdens WK 2014
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2012Gekoelde Vogels NRC (krant) Een foto + kort stukje over mij en mijn werk in het NRC (zie bijgeleverd beeld)
Secondary art-related activities
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2016 - 2016Designing Fifty-year jubilee book 'De Pretentielozen' Apeldoorn
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2015 - 2016Designing Book a Time of Life, three generations of Coffee roasters in Amsterdam
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2010 - 2010Teaching Photography at The Comenius College Amsterdam
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2010 - 2019DJ On-going