Wolvecamp 100 x Sam Samiee
To mark the 100th birthday of Theo Wolvecamp, the Cobra Museum presents a festive exhibition connecting the work of this influential yet modest Cobra artist with that of Iranian-Dutch artist and guest curator Sam Samiee.
Theo Wolvecamp (Hengelo 1925 – Amsterdam 1992) is often described as a painter who consciously kept to the sidelines. Unlike many of his Cobra colleagues, he worked outside the spotlight, remaining true to his own path, far from public attention. Still, he was a driving force within the movement. Wolvecamp dedicated his life to one of Cobra’s core principles: free, spontaneous painting in which improvisation and experimentation take center stage. His work was always sincere, free of pretension, and derived its strength from the intuition and spontaneity with which it was created.
What makes Wolvec…
To mark the 100th birthday of Theo Wolvecamp, the Cobra Museum presents a festive exhibition connecting the work of this influential yet modest Cobra artist with that of Iranian-Dutch artist and guest curator Sam Samiee.
Theo Wolvecamp (Hengelo 1925 – Amsterdam 1992) is often described as a painter who consciously kept to the sidelines. Unlike many of his Cobra colleagues, he worked outside the spotlight, remaining true to his own path, far from public attention. Still, he was a driving force within the movement. Wolvecamp dedicated his life to one of Cobra’s core principles: free, spontaneous painting in which improvisation and experimentation take center stage. His work was always sincere, free of pretension, and derived its strength from the intuition and spontaneity with which it was created.
What makes Wolvecamp unique is the combination of the mythical and the material. He viewed paint not just as a tool, but as a living material through which he could bring a world to life. He admired artists like Asger Jorn, who, in his view, perfectly balanced content and physicality. Miró and Alechinsky were also major inspirations, yet Wolvecamp’s work unmistakably bears his own voice: raw, spontaneous, and sensitive.
Sam Samiee, winner of the Wolvecamp Prize in 2018, sees Wolvecamp as a major source of inspiration. Like his predecessor, he approaches painting as a free, experimental process, while also introducing new perspectives. His work merges European painting traditions with Persian cultural references and explores the boundaries of the medium by extending painting into installations and spatial interventions.
His expressive use of color, dynamic brushwork, and layered textures create a sensory and intellectual experience. Like Wolvecamp, he seeks a balance between spontaneous creation and deeper meaning. In this exhibition, Samiee not only links the legacy of Cobra to contemporary art, but also to broader cultural connections, such as the influence of Iranian artists on Western art history and the narrative character of One Thousand and One Nights.
When
- Every tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday and sunday until june 15th, 2025 from 10:00 to 17:00
