Erwin Olaf at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

Three years ago, Erwin Olaf (1959-2023) passed away. The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam held an exhibition to pay tribute to this versatile and multifaceted artist: Erwin Olaf – Freedom. 

Erwin Olaf was famous for his work in the LGBTQ+ community; he who was commissioned to photograph advertising campaigns for companies such as Levi’s, Microsoft, and Nokia, as well as the official portraits of the Dutch royal family. He was also a freethinker, pursuing freedom and championing identity, sexuality, gender, nightlife, and equal rights for all.

I found his work intense and emotional, he explored sexuality like no one before, with a focus on human skin, its different shades, and the space around us.

This exhibition in Amsterdam also featured lesser-known work, including videos and sculptures, his commercial photography, and personal archive material. It was so wonderful, and I wanted to share it with you.

Here is an article by the Guardian about his Erwin Olaf: Bigger Than Life exhibition in London: Subversive, sensual and shocking: Erwin Olaf’s larger than life portraits – in pictures.