Amsterdam Cityscapes

ARTTRA is organising a group exhibition featuring artists spanning the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, each offering a distinctive perspective on Amsterdam. The works chart the city's transformation from the Palace before the draining of the Damrak in 1883, through Amsterdam's frozen canals and bridges during the harsh winters of the 1940s and 1950s, to the soaring office complexes that define the Zuidas in the contemporary era. Participating artists include Behr, Koekoek, Van der Kop, Giliam, Pera, Van der Heijden and Vilt.
→ Galerie Arttra. Tweede Boomdwarsstraat 4 in Amsterdam.
8 November 2025 – 31 January 2026
Opening: Saturday 8 November, 16.00–19.00

Thirteen works, one afternoon: a collaborative performance with the Cabo Mondego Section of Portugese Surrealism in the Gulpilharinhos forest, Vila Nova de Gaia. July 2025. → View the works

Collaborative Painting

The Cabo Mondego Section of Portuguese Surrealism joined forces with an international group of colleagues for a two-hour collaborative painting session at the Fundación Eugenio Granell in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, on 10 July 2025. → Click to enlarge.

 

When Software Sees (But Cameras Don't)

Automatic Pictures from Surrendered Control

What happens when I hijack my smartphone's camera software? Discover what emerges from moments of resistance, bridging Flusser's apparatus theory with Breton's automatism… → continue reading

Exhibition "Na Mirada dos Espellos," Santiago de Compostela, 10 July to 12 October

I'm proud to be part of this international group show celebrating 100 years of the Surrealist Manifesto. You'll see several of my works including glasswork and collaborative pieces created with "The Cabo Mondego Section of Portuguese Surrealism." Opening performance and reception: Thursday, 10th July at 7pm. Fundación Eugenio Granell: Praza do Toural, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
→ In the gaze of mirrors. Evocative exhibition of the centenary of the Surrealist Manifesto (1924–2024)

Click here to view recent coloured pencil drawings created in the Netherlands, Portugal, Norway, Gabon, France, and Spain.

Rik Lina and Jan Giliam, formerly of CAPA (Collective Automatic Painting Amsterdam) and now part of the Cabo Mondego Section of Portuguese Surrealism, sparked new projects in summer 2024 with Beatriz Hausner and Allan Graubard.

"Baleia Sonhadora", a glass object by Jan Giliam on display at a group exhibition in Portugal.
From October 15th @ the Departamento de Cultura de Paredes, curated by Miguel de Carvalho


"Na mira dos Espelhos"
Anos do manifesto do surrealismo 1924-2024

Miguel de Carvalho is an artist known for his work in surrealism, poetry, and collage. He is also the founder of the publishing house DEBOUT SUR L'OEUF edições surrealistas.

Panther portrait 2010. Assemblage - 65x40cm. On display at Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
Collaboration between Rik Lina, Dave Bobroske and Jan Giliam, working as CAPA (Collective Automatic Painting Amsterdam).


"MERVEILLEUSE UTOPIE"

From July 6 to September 7, 2024, the Paris Surrealist Group, in partnership with La Rose Impossible, is hosting the 19th International Surrealism Exhibition in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.

Although part of the centenary of the Surrealist Manifesto, it aims to highlight the ongoing vitality of surrealism, following Breton's death in 1966, and in the spirit of past exhibitions from 1938 to 1976.

The exhibition will feature contemporary works by artists from Europe and the Americas, as well as art brut and singular art, which align with surrealism’s imaginative power.

"Marvelous Utopia" recalls surrealism’s revolutionary principles — transforming the world, changing life, and rethinking human understanding (André Breton) — and emphasizes the emancipatory power of imagination, opposing the notion that surrealism is merely an art movement.

Surrealism today aims to re-enchant utopia as a space for individual and collective happiness.

Centre International du Surréalisme et de la Citoyenneté Mondiale
Maisons André Breton et Émile Joseph-Rignault
Le Bourg, 46330, Saint-Cirq-Lapopie
France

A new performance by Jan Giliam and Rik Lina, dueling with the surreal technique of automatically listening to voodoo music.

In 2023, curator Ben Gort acquired eight works for Historama Wereld, a history museum featuring dioramas that provoke discourse on warfare, conflict and historical inquiry. Behind carefully chosen dioramic figures, my drawings create spaces for visitors to pause and discern what remains unspoken, functioning as sanctuaries within the museum's contemplative terrain. → Read more…

Studio view, Amsterdam, featuring three paintings by Rik Lina and Jan Giliam, who now work collaboratively under the Cabo Mondego Section of Portuguese Surrealism. A newly acquired ceramic kiln stands alongside the existing kiln, promising exciting developments ahead.

… to the archive