Floor Grootenhuis
Floor Grootenhuis is a Dutch/Kenyan artist whose contemporary art practice is conceptual and socially engaging, collaborative and gives new value to the ‘everyday’. Floor makes subtle critiques of the society’s structures at the micro and macro levels using different mediums in a variety of materials and sizes, ranging from sculptures, installations, found objects, everyday recyclable materials and performance. Her work points to divisive forces of consumerism, institutionalization, global corruption and chronic violence against humanity.
These themes come from her experience growing up in East Africa and her work in the humanitarian and development fields. Her art is inspired by the places in which she has worked and lived, ranging from Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Afghanistan to Barcelona, Jakarta and now New York City.
Floor is currently an MFA candidate in social practice at Queens College, CUNY. She completed the Studio Intensive Program at the National Academy School in New York. She also holds a Masters in Human Geography of developing countries from the University of Amsterdam. She has received grants from Reuben Foundation and the Queens Art Intervention. Her work has been shown at the Queens Museum and the Godwin-Ternbach Museum and Five Myles Gallery in New York and has been exhibited at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània in Barcelona, Spain. Floor’s pieces live in private collections in Kenya, South Africa, Australia, USA, Thailand, Indonesia and the Netherlands.