Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again.
Fail again.
Fail better.
Samuel
Beckett | 1983 | Worstward Ho
cover: DISTANT SUFFERING LVVII | i.d. of a self-perpetuating cloud
Photo
work | exhibitions
Oleg Kharch Group and Hans Overvliet at Open Open'$
KyivUkraine, Ivan Bilik Street 11, Room 155
March 5, 2026 to April 22, 2026
“In 2022, the whole world began to closely follow the open military invasion of country 404 against Ukraine. Hans was one of the first in the Netherlands to look for ways to support Ukrainian artists. Oleg Kharch was fortunate enough to meet Hans in 2020 and even organize a joint art action in Kyiv with Hans' poster “i.d. of ineauality.”
Hans went to ‘his’ coast in February 2022. The clouds on the horizon reminded him of the painful news from Ukraine. He began to see certain signs and symbols—such as explosions—although in reality, of course, these were only the artist's imagination.
Later, he sent a small package to me with the landscapes that are now on display, accompanied by warm words of support: “Distant Suffering XXXI - except for joyful peace, no news from the western front, with the connotation "what idiot came up with the idea of fighting each other over a piece of land? On February 24, 2022, Oleg and Olga's sovereignty was challenged. Russia then began to destroy Ukraine."
February 2026 | Oleg Kharch
Oleg Kharch Group and Hans Overvliet at Open Open'$ | KyivUkraine
DISTANT SUFFERING XXXI other than joyful peace, no news from the Western Front
DISTANT SUFFERING together with Pier Pennings in plan.d. produzentengalerie e.v. | Düsseldorf
March 21 - April 19, 2026
DISTANT SUFFERING XXI | i.d. of a shared ice bullet
DISTANT SUFFERING LI | i.d. of the persistence of the clinique
DISTANT SUFFERING LIV | i.d. of a vanishing object
DISTANT SUFFERING LVI | i.d. of shared betrayal
DISTANT SUFFERING LVIII | i.d. of the face (i.d. des Antlitzes)
Thanks
S.B.K.M. Vleeshal
DISTANT SUFFERING XXI | i.d.
of a shared ice bullet
DISTANT SUFFERING XXI | i.d. of a shared bullet
Work / material
Mold ‘hot Bullet Shape Mode’ from Etsy, Hong Kong
061207 1 H14-03-020 1 PL191 129 02 187 A small bottles from Etsy, Hong Kong; High borosilicate glass, cork, volume: 85 oz (25ml), 90 mm x 20 mm; opening: about 13 mm
Orange label with text
DISTANT SUFFERING XXI | I.D. OF A SHARED BULLET
www.hansovervliet.com
Severin GB 8882 - fridge | Steel console 110 x 60 x 60 cm | powder coated
Time-laps video
Catalogue
DISTANT SUFFERING LI
i.d. of the persistence of the clinique
Colmar | Deir al-Balah the catalogue
Work
Triptych
November 2024 – January 2025
Intra-Venous (IV) material
folding mattress BASIC F15 | JYSK
three plexiglas cubes 35 x 35 x 35 cm
Click here for the catalogue.
DISTANT
SUFFERING LVVII
i.d. of a self-perpetuating cloud edition #4
Kunstverein plan-d | Düsseldorf
March 21 – April 19, 2026
Material
Doubled cloud / explosion; 14 texts in Candara, varying languges, varying font; 14 viscose cloths Albert Heijn, yellow, before washing 38 x 40 cm; 14 textile transfers for inkjet, A4, Quantore; Inkjetprinter Canon TS 700; Ink: 123inkt.nl, CU-581C XXL; On one cloth: Text in Candarra (font size 14)
DISTANT SUFFERING LVVII
i.d. of a self-perpetuating cloud hans overvliet | 2026
Click here for the catalogue.
Work
cotton pouches with bullet holes caused by air pistol Webly Tempest 4,5 mm, nr. 221796, Webly&Scott LTD, Shagai Parboil rice, mixed with Riz noir interdit, Maison Sabarot, Albert Hijn reusable vegetable bags, video, courtesy by ©Myuz Ahmed, July 27, 2025, Gaza Strip, edited to black and white with scratch filter, 24” TV- Samsung LF22T450FQUX | Speedlink BRIO - Stereo Soundbar, brown paper bag from bakehouse ’t Zand, Middelburg, Monzana Storage Rack Bookcase, 5 Shelves, 135,5 x 58 x 27 cm, July 27, 2025 – February 20, 2026.
Next pages work in the studio / stills from the video
Link to the catalogue
DISTANT SUFFERING LVIII
| i.d. of the face
German version | revisited (2025)
i.d. des Antlitzes
The beauty of the other's uniqueness must be accompanied by the realization that the other is completely and even frighteningly different from me.
Emmanuel Lévinas (1906 – 1995)
Abdallah Alwan
Holy Quran Radio, Midan, Mugtama, Al-Jazeera Ermordet in Jabalia, 18. Dezember 2023.
Den Haag war leider unbeeindruckt.
The Torentje, the office of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, German version, seen from the Mauritshuis, from the room with the last self-portrait of Rembrandt van Rhijn from 1669.
The work
Videos with photos of 186 media representatives who were assasinated by the Israeli army between October 7, 2023, and September 14, 2025; Video with 186 postcards of places I visited in Europe while commemorating these colleagues;
186 Postcards on 300 gm; Prints by de Witte Print&Design, ’s Gravenpolder;
Handi Stitch Classic pinking shears | 4 teeth - 2 mm high / 18 mm wide;
Glass plate 65 x 35 cm x 8 mm;
Glass plate support 8 mm | glastotaal.nl | PT027537001;
Photobook, 32 x 15 cm, made by bookbinding workshop De Boeckenherrebergh | Ruth Bonnewel;
Monitors | each controlled by a Mini HD Media Player - afinjo.nl;
Paper bin | rectangular | black metal | 17 l | Able & Borret.
The German version was conceived for an exhibition at plan-d in Düsseldorf, April-May 2025.
Click here for the catalogue in the process of becoming. Click here for the catalogue of an earlier version, included in the collection of the Verbeke Foundation.
DISTANT SUFFERING LIV
| i.d. of a vanishing object
Leiden 1959 | West Bank 2025
DISTANT SUFFERING LIV | i.d. of a vanishing object
Leiden 1959 – Gaza 2023 - 2025
Work from our family archive: 10 black and white photoprints
9 x 14 cm | 300 grs Plano
folding mattress BASIC F15 | JYSK
plexiglas cube 30 x 30 x 30 cm
wooden console | 30 x 30 x 20 cm
painted matte white
Soap
Nablus soap, imported by Zepig from the Nablus Soap Company
Photo
Leiden, 1959 | Wil Freeke
Pieter de la Courtstraat 67 grandparents back garden
Left to right: our niece Annemieke Freeke, me and my brother Marten
Catalogue
DISTANT SUFFERING XXII | i.d. of inequality
DüsseldorffBRD | kunstverein plan-d | 13/02/26
utterly endlessly repurposed naive incantation gesture AIR BIEKORF | 10.0: ‘TIN’
April 10 - June 7 2026 curator Jan Verhaghe
Work
DISTANT SUFFERING LVVI | i.d. of a treacherous sky
9 kites, bamboo sticks Ø4-4.5 mm, upright ±55 cm, cross bar ±40 cm, attached to the upright on ±17 cm; Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant, December 2025;
9 A3 black-and-white prints of clouds / explosions
In the Netherlands / Gaza;
Tesa flexible masking tape, beige, 20 mm; Ledent braided rope white polyamide, Ø3 mm; Albert Heijn water-based craft glue; Bison wood glue; GAMMA interior paint, white, matt; Bieme double-sided, acid-free adhesive tape, 20 mm; Foamboard, 5 mm; Velcro fastener.
Click here for the catalogue.
For the project FLAGS FOR FREEDOM, held on the lawn in front of the Kipvis art workplace in Vissingen on March 3, 2025, I used nine yellow cleaning cloths as a backdrop for a cloud/explosion with the words ‘never again?’ written across it in nine different languages.
Jorieke Rottier suggested that I revisi-ted this work for a group exhibition at Bloom Gallery in Valencia in April 2026. It became this new work:
DISTANT SUFFERING LVVII | i.d. of a self-perpetuating cloud
Material
Doubled cloud / explosion;
14 texts in Candara, varying languges, varying font; 14 viscose cloths Albert Heijn, yellow, before washing 38 x 40 cm; 14 textile transfers for inkjet, A4, Quantore; Inkjetprinter Canon TS 700;
Ink: 123inkt.nl, CU-581C XXL;
On one cloth:
Text in Candarra (font size 14)
DISTANT SUFFERING LVVII
i.d. of a self-perpetuating cloud hans overvliet | 2026
Click here for the catalogue.
DISTANT SUFFERING XXXI
other than joyful peace, no news from the Western Front
DISTANT SUFFERING XXXI
other than joyful peace, no news from the Western Front
December 22, 2022 – February 24, 2023
52 pictures of skies in Zeeland in solidarity with Oleg K. and his family in Kiev - Ukraine
Work:
52 photo prints | 16,2 x 7,6 cm all photos made by Moto M7 cell phone prints | Canon Imax | 300 gr. Plano Superior | 2 mm. Board
Wooden shoe box with title and QRcode.
Link to the catalogue.
ik geef je mijn raam / i give you my window | Vlissingen
ik geef je mijn raam / i give you my window | Vlissingen
An art exhibition project by Sylvia Hubrouck
Window Exhibition #32
Monday, April 20th - Sunday, May 31st, 2026
coincides with May 4th - 5th - Remembrance and Liberation Liberation Festival Vlissingen
DISTANT SUFFERING LVVII | i.d. of a self-perpetuating cloud
Material
Doubled cloud / explosion;
12 texts in Candara, varying languges, varying font;
12 viscose cloths Albert Heijn, yellow, before washing 38 x 40 cm;
12 textile transfers for inkjet, A4, Quantore;
Inkjetprinter Canon TS 700;
Ink: 123inkt.nl, CU-581C XXL;
On one cloth:
Text in Candarra (font size 14)
DISTANT SUFFERING LVVII
i.d. of a self-perpetuating cloud hans overvliet | 2026
Click here for the catalogue.
pakje kunst | 20 photo prints 6 x 9 cm on 5 mm foam of a double explosion with the text “never again?” in 20 languages from around the world.
Martha Jager, curator Vleeshal in MiddelburgNL about the oeuvre after a studio visit: The dedication to art as a relational verb is central to Overvliet's work. On the one hand, the balance between poetry and criticism is special, in that the work never becomes bitter or pedantic, while at the same time the dialogue with the viewer is actively maintained. It is a tender form of activism that moves and urges action and also continuously questions the role of art.
Since 2013, by means of the ongoing art-series DISTANT SUFFERING, the Dutch artist Hans Overvliet (Leiden, 1952) investigates the role of the media in their representation of (military) violence. This, in the context of themes as perception, memory and identity formation. Overvliet uses a various range of media, symbols and codes, bringing together dichotomies like beauty and violence, refinement and brutality, the sublime and the vulgar.
Aspects of power, politics, exclusion, censorship and the connection between artist, artwork and viewer infiltrate his multifaceted conceptual oeuvre.
As a reporter, Overvliet was an eyewitness to the events in the Middle East during the 1980s. Of course these experiences resonate in distant suffering.
Elements of DISTANT SUFFERING were exhibited in the Netherlands, Belgium, Pakistan, England, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Albania, Germany, Lebanon, the U.S.A., Brasil, Argentina, Spain and Sweden. In 2023, his whole body of paper collages ( 1999 – 2012 ) joined Geert Verbeke’s renowned collection of collages and assemblages.
In 2024 - 2025 the whole oeuvre of DISTANT SUFFERING was exhibited in the museum part of the Verbeke Foundation. All works will then be included in the permanent collection.
Next to his art-work Hans is, together with his wife Willy van Houtum, the founder and every day guardian of ruimteCAESUUR, the 30-year old space for contemporary art in Middelburg in the province of Zeeland.
acknowledgement
Thanks | people
Willy, Giel, Jorieke, Jochem, GeertBelgium, MarieBelgium , Ko, Johan, TinekeBelgium , CarlitaBelgium , JürgenGermany , Dani, Bo, Erjee, Ilja, leon, Chris, Edwin, WilfriedGermany , Leni, Pier, Anke, Thomas, OlegUkraine, OlenaUkraine , Ruth, Jan, IssamYemen , ElizabethSpain , JyrgGermany , AnnaUkraine, Ingrid, Andrea IsaGermany , MyuzGaza , Syllvia, Rita, Barbara, IbrahimSpain , peterGermany ,
Thanks | instututes kunstwerkplaats Kipvis / Vlissingen, Verbeke Foundation / Kemzeke Belgium , ruimteCAESUUr / Middelburg, no-intitute / KasselGermany , plan-d / DüsseldorfGermany, Bloom Gallery / ValenciaSpain , Hope Foundation / The Hague, CultuurCentrum BruggeBelgië , Ik Geef Je Mijn Raam / Vlissingen, Pakje Kunst / Terneuzen, Open O’pen$Ukrain ,
hans overvliet
studio-address | Dreesstraat 2 Vlissingen
home-address | Lange Noordstraat 67, NL-4331 CC Middelburg www.hansovervliet.com | curiositas@zeelandnet.nl team member of www.caesuur.nu www.ikbeneengod.one click here for my condensed portfolio click here for my extended portfolio click here for my C.V.
An object that tells of loss, destruction, disappearance of objects. Does not speak of itself. Tells of others. Will it include them?
Deluge.
Jasper Johns
Sketchbook | 1964
