Marcelo Segall
Born in Chile and raised in the Netherlands, Marcelo Segall graduated in 1997 from the Utrecht School of the Arts as an autonomous painter. Only a year later he drew national attention with his provocative portrait of then-Queen Beatrix, rendered both ultramarine blue and bald. Displayed across Amsterdam on posters announcing his exhibition at the Beurs van Berlage, the work was intended not to offend but to challenge convention, in a time before the internet had transformed public discourse.
In the years that followed, Segall’s focus turned inward, shaped by his family life and by the growing impact of digital culture. As the internet became increasingly accessible, issues of privacy and exposure entered everyday life. His response was to highlight raw, unfiltered expressions of shamelessness, pushing against a voyeuristic society that constantly demands more. In 2008 he once again stirred national debate with works in which he preserved his family’s excrement in epoxy “feces cakes,” a gesture widely reported in the media. Yet the public conversation often fixated on the material excess rather than engaging with the deeper critique—the tendency to remain at the surface rather than confront what truly matters.
This line of questioning continues to resonate in Segall’s more recent work, where sustainability and reuse emerge as central themes in the face of growing consumerism. At first glance his works appear playful, colourful, and even innocent. Yet beneath the surface lies a counter-narrative: a protest against excess, a confrontation with intolerance within world religions, and a reflection on humanity’s relentless appetite to consume at the cost of the earth, of others, and of peace itself.
Following his last solo exhibition Slide to Waste at the HDMZ Museum in Zandvoort, which was cut short due to Covid restrictions, Segall devoted several years entirely to his family. From that intimate space, new inspiration has arisen, fueling the continuation of his uncompromising explorations of art, society, and responsibility.
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