about

Statement

“The world is not what I think, but what I live through.”
— Maurice Merleau-Ponty

My work is rooted in perception as lived experience. It begins with the encounter between the viewer and a structure that seems familiar but cannot be fully resolved.

Through wall-based reliefs and constructions, I explore how meaning emerges in the act of looking rather than in what is being represented. The works suggest architectural logic and spatial familiarity, yet this recognition remains unstable. What appears legible at first gradually shifts into uncertainty.

I am interested in that moment where perception breaks down into interpretation—where seeing becomes an active process rather than a passive reading. Materials, construction methods and traces of making remain visible, not as explanation, but as part of this unfolding experience.

The works do not aim to describe or depict architecture, but to operate within its language while disrupting its certainty. In this space between recognition and ambiguity, meaning is not fixed but continuously formed through the viewer’s experience.

Photo: Rogier Veldman

CV

Charlie Kater (1970, Venlo, The Netherlands). Lives and works in Hilversum, The Netherlands.

Education:

  • 1994-1998 Bachelor of sculpture at AKI Academie voor Kunst en Industrie in Enschede, NL
  • 1997 International fine arts exchange program at University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
  • 2002-2004 Bachelor of Education in Visual Arts & Design (With Honours) at Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht, NL
  • 2024 Member of Artists’ Association Vereniging van beeldend kunstenaars Maatschappij Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam, NL

Solo exhibitions:

  • 2024 18 pieces at VDHP Exposities, Amsterdam NL
  • 2023 There is more different than it seems to be, Achter de Ramen, Amsterdam NL
  • 2020 Achter de Ramen, Amsterdam NL
  • 2018 I try to keep up with the rhythm, Atelier P68, Amersfoort NL

Group exhibitions:

  • 2025 “BLAUW” with KV Laren Blaricum, Kasteel Groeneveld, Baarn NL
  • 2025 “PLAYGROUND TWIST” with Uzine Park, De Bouwput, Amsterdam NL
  • 2025 “UPDATE” Arti et Amicitae, Amsterdam NL
  • 2024 Salon Arti et Amicitae, Amsterdam ML
  • 2024 Hectobar 30.0 (Pop-up sale/swap event curated by V&B), Galerie Heejsteck, Utrecht NL
  • 2024 Onze Wereld, KV Laren /Blaricum, Kerk, Johanneskerk Laren NL
  • 2024 Hectobar 28.0 (Pop-up sale/swap event curated by V&B), Galerie Heejsteck, Utrecht NL
  • 2023 Hectobar 26.0 (Pop-up sale/swap event curated by V&B), Galerie Heejsteck, Utrecht NL
  • 2023 Mooi is anders, KV Laren /Blaricum, Rosa Spierhuis, Laren NL
  • 2022-23 Maquette (curated by Robert Moon), No Show Space Gallery, London UK
  • 2022 100 years KV Laren /Blaricum, Singer Museum Laren NL
  • 2021 Fluffycrimes,- Show #7, Mana Contemporary Art Center Chicago ILL. USA
  • 2021 Herontdekkingen with KV Laren /Blaricum, Kasteel Groeneveld, Baarn NL 
  • 2020 Laureatensalon KPSK, Kasteel Cortewalle, Beveren BE
  • 2019 With Jan de Ruyter at Zaansgroen Gallery, Zaandam NL
  • 2019 Prize Piet Staut, Kasteel Cortewalle, Beveren BE
  • 2019 Kunstkijkroute Amersfoort, Amersfoort NL
  • 1998 AKI Finals Sculpture, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim NL

Publications:

  • “Maquette”, Catalogue 2022 by Robert Moon
  • “Verenigde Solisten, 100 jaar vereniging van Beeldende kunstenaars Laten-Blaricum” door Peter C.L. van der Ploeg, 2022 ISBN 9789090363790

Collections:

  • Private collections

Prizes:

  • 2019: Prijs Piet Staut: 2nd prize, BE