Please Take Nothing But Memory

Daan Couzijn received a grant for the development of a body of new works. Please Take Nothing But Memory centres on a pigment migration technique, in which layers of varnish, dirt, and superficial pigment are chemically lifted from antique oil paintings and transferred onto textile. Developed in collaboration with restoration experts, this process yields faint imprints that are then mounted within various antique objects sourced from local auction houses — selected for the way they circulate within the auction house’s value system as seemingly discarded fragments of the past.

At the core of Daan's artistic practice is a continuous search for — and critical reflection on — authenticity. He moves between the romantic notion that artists should strive for authentic expression and the postmodern understanding that every image is rooted in pre-existing references. For Daan, an artwork is not an end point, but a temporary node within a broader network of influences. By reusing found materials, images, and techniques, and by placing traditional forms within contemporary contexts, he constructs visual narratives that question the instability of authenticity, the workings of collective memory, and the endless reproduction of imagery in a media-saturated world. Daan is represented by PLUS-ONE Projects in Antwerp, and his work has been shown internationally at institutions such as the Musée du Louvre in Paris, Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, Modern Animals Gallery in Zurich, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.