Culture connects us. The diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives of young creatives play a pivotal role in this connection. At Affordable Art Fair, we’ve always been passionate about discovering and supporting emerging artists as they make their mark on the contemporary art scene. AVROTROS is dedicated to championing these talented individuals in its mission to promote cultural diversity, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that a wider range of voices and stories are shared.

In 2023, AVROTROS made its inaugural appearance at the fair spotlighting three emerging artists: Nikè Marchand, Niels Egidius and Sjahrzad Khodadadeh. The following year, 2024, they presented Kris van Gendt, Sam Hersbach and Ema Vaneková.

Building on its success, AVROTROS returns for the third year in a row, highlighting four promising Dutch female artists: Tirza Mafi, Tosja van Lieshout, Renske De Jong and Eline Boerma. These artists bring fresh perspectives and innovative approaches, continuing to enrich the contemporary art landscape.

TOSJA VAN LIESHOUT

Melancholy is the red thread in Tosja van Lieshout‘s (Eindhoven, 1999) work, a sense of something slipping away, or a longing for something that may never have existed. Her paintings, often landscapes and still lifes featuring animals, are shaped by dreams, memories, and collected imagery. In her visual language, the line between dream and reality fades away.

Tosja’s practice is a continuous search for colour, form, and space. She works with oil, acrylic, gouache, ink, and pencil on raw, unprimed canvas, a surface that asks for decisiveness. This direct way of working leaves space for layering, accident, and nuance.

TIRZA MAFI

Tirza Mafi‘s (Groningen, 1996) work revolves around fleshiness and the human experience. She draws from her own bodily experiences and a visual fascination with organic textures.

In her work, she explores what it means to be a body – a body constantly subjected to change, torn by conflicting desires, and inevitably destined to fail her. She seeks an exaggerated sense of reality: pinched skin, glistening mucous membranes, and strands of saliva are intensified through paint. The result is striking, raw, and intimate imagery that teeter between attraction and repulsion.

RENSKE DE JONG

High heels, hairy legs, dripping breast milk, menstruating flowers, onions, fingers and tears fill the bright visual language of Renske de Jong (Utrecht, 2002). Her work explores the dominant image of womanhood in society. Rather than directly criticizing stereotypes, she reveals the diversity within femininity.  

These layers are reflected in her use of materials and color palette, interwoven with symbols from her childhood and societal norms. Through soft pastel colors, glossy, candy-like ceramics, organic shapes, and motifs such as orchids and fish, she creates a sweet, inviting atmosphere. Behind that sweet façade lies a world of activism, absurdity, and sensuality. With detailed drawings and sculptural works, she challenges the viewer to step into a realm where preconceived notions of femininity are reshaped and re-examined. 

ELINE BOERMA

Eline Boerma’s (Culemborg, 1999) work reflects personal experiences through painting, often drawn from time spent in nature — like sailing, observing changing seas and skies. The paintings are abstract
translations of those experiences. The works emerge as conversations with the canvas through a cycle of bursts of mark-making, attentive observation and long periods of meditation. Intuition, frustration, and impulse alternate with calm reflections on the physical structure and color compositions that appear.

Don’t miss this must-see exhibition during your visit.