I am a Flower / Beauty is my Power

 

In May, Frank Bezemer (my husband for 43 years now) had a wonderful exhibition of his staffs in Winssen at the Dijkmagazijn. It’s such a lovely place to be. 

 

Flowers were blooming everywhere. We went for some lovely walks along the Waal River. There’s also a famous French fry stand nearby and a good restaurant with a terrace under the espalier trees. After working so hard on my new book, it felt like a vacation.

We took a week off in between to go to Photo London to show my work and the dummy of the new book. I’ll be finishing the new book in August and September so it can be presented in November.

 

The curator of the Dijkmagazijn asked me to exhibit in August, and I said: YES

 

 

Painted Beauty can save the World II, Hahnemuhle Baryta photoprint, aluminium, 29,5 x 39,7 cm

Will you come celebrate summer and dance through the meadows?

Bring your friends along. 

 

The artworks in my studio want to be seen.

They are looking for a permanent home. In your house?

Come out of the closet. Let’s go!

 

The prints are waiting impatiently. Splattered, inscribed, painted with mushroom patterns. 

Like white spiderwebs.

What lies beneath the ground wants to break free after all these years.

It wants to see the light. I want to see the light. 

 

Will you come see them?

 

I’m delighted that Maaike Meijer has agreed to open the exhibition 

*I Am a Flower*.

Meijer is an art lover and was recently named Dutch Language and Literature Academic of the Year (2026). She is a writer, literary scholar, professor emeritus of gender studies, and the biographer of Vasalis and Fritzi Harmsen van Beek. Last year, she chaired the jury for the P.C. Hooft Prize. Deeply versed in psychoanalysis, she is also the author of Radeloze helden (Desperate Heroes), published in 2023.

 

Register for the opening on Saturday, August 1, at 3:00 p.m. at margrietsmulders@gmail.com.  

 

The exhibition is open every Sunday in August from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

And by appointment via margrietsmulders@gmail.com

 

Dijkmagazijn, Dijk 27, Winssen (not in Beuningen).

 

You can cycle from Nijmegen along the dike through the floodplains heading west on the south side of the Waal River, go under the Ewijkse Bridge, and you’ll be almost at the Dijkmagazijn. Or take bus line 85 from Nijmegen Central Station toward Druten and get off at Plakstraat in Winssen.  

 

By giving a work of art a new home, you help Frank and me continue working in our studios for as long as possible.

An ode to flowers, women, and nature

 

A love of flowers and care for the earth make us gentler and more human.

 

 

Warm regards, and see you in Winssen?

 

Margriet Smulders