Dana LaMonda

Day One Being summoned by the call of early morning prayers and the smell of Turkish coffee, my wanderlust awakes. I rise, seize the camera and within minutes find myself emerging into the hustle and bustle of daily life, strolling along the streets of Istanbul, navigating through secret alleyways and city dust. Surrounded by vivid colors, a chorus of seagulls, cats, traffic, streetvenders, and an eclectic mix of people. Embraced warmly by the locals, I am invited into their hearts and homes eager to be portaited, it feels like time itself pauses. My camera is clicking away, trying to capture it all. Dana LaMonda, 2023

Being summoned by the call of early morning prayers and the smell of Turkish coffee, my wanderlust awakes. I rise, seize the camera and within minutes find myself emerging into the hustle and bustle of daily life, strolling along the streets of Istanbul, navigating through secret alleyways and city dust. Surrounded by vivid colors, a chorus of seagulls, cats, traffic, streetvenders, and an eclectic mix of people. Embraced warmly by the locals, I am invited into their hearts and homes eager to be portaited, it feels like time itself pauses. My camera is clicking away, trying to capture it all. Dana LaMonda, 2023

Being summoned by the call of early morning prayers and the smell of Turkish coffee, my wanderlust awakes. I rise, seize the camera and within minutes find myself emerging into the hustle and bustle of daily life, strolling along the streets of Istanbul, navigating through secret alleyways and city dust. Surrounded by vivid colors, a chorus of seagulls, cats, traffic, streetvenders, and an eclectic mix of people. Embraced warmly by the locals, I am invited into their hearts and homes eager to be portaited, it feels like time itself pauses. My camera is clicking away, trying to capture it all. Dana LaMonda, 2023

Moon Gallery Foundation is developing an art gallery to be sent to the Moon, which will contribute to the establishment of the first lunar outpost. 100 artworks will be integrated into a 10 x 10 x 1 grid tray to fly to the Moon in 2025. The Moon is the ultimate home of the gallery, but the idea neither starts nor ends there: our work is based on expanding humanity’s cultural dialogue beyond our home planet. The point where the gallery will meet the cosmos for the first time in low Earth orbit in 2022. For this Test Flight in collaboration with Nanoracks, we fly the gallery to the International Space Station aboard the NG-17 rocket within the framework of a Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply mission in February of 2022. This edition of the gallery grid features 8×8 cells housing 64 physical artefacts and one engraved AR artwork. 65 art projects featured in the gallery will reach the final frontier of human habitat and mark the historical meeting point of the Moon Gallery and the cosmos. Reaching low Earth orbit on our way to the Moon is the first step in extending our cultural dialogue to space.

n the centre of the main Quartair gallery space Dana LaMonda’s suspended heavy charred-looking door frames a shadowy vanishing point imprinted on glass. It seemed both ominous and uplifting. The glass serves as a point of perspective and sort of viewing point through the massive barrier but it is too high and too opaque to allow a view through. Instead the door remains as an object and the glass serves as a screen, leading the eye up.

To free myself from the ballast in my home, I moved my library from the house to the atelier. The books where placed with their backs facing the wall, to hide the titles and free them from what they are ‘supposed to be’ This created room to play.

HOK gallery: Thursday 16 July – Saturday 8 August 2020 Vernissage from Thursday 16 July 17h00 until Saturday 18h00 using time-slots The small underground venue HOK offers the perfect spot for the solo exhibition: One Minute, by the Hague photographer Dana LaMonda. Her show highlights an installation and photographs from the world of Rosaly, who puts her everyday clothes in her locker and exchanges them for her fishnet stockings and a pair of palette panties for the night. Her hair is covered by a red wig that is no prettier than her real hair. The tendon room: there it should be done and quickly. Rosaly is now Joe. It is a transformation process that leaves behind the residue of a hard day’s night, corona or not. How much sperm can a floor have, and who feels no respect for Joe, this powerful lady. How can you have sex while keeping a safe distance of 1.5 meters? Contact through holes, and with this: the return of the glory hole from ancient times, holes where you can put something through and then it is done. Plastic sheets for extra hygiene, a disinfectant spray: as long as we do it quickly and safely. Prostitution 2020. The colour of Dana’s photos are dominated by pink and blue. Here we see the documentary photographer Dana pur sang: showing a world that is real. The exposition will be accompanied by a limited edition HOK publication, all-in riso. As Dana LaMonda describes it: “ One Minute, is about being wild, being bold. It is an ode to women and her creative ability that nourishes and gives: "She has the creative power to take on any desired outer or inner appearance, she can make and destroy.”

One Minute As time drips and sounds penetrate, Footsteps become louder, then stop. The Doorbell rings twice. I get up. Heading towards the door, I slide into high heels and put on a wig. I take a last glance at my reflection. I like what I see. Today I am a redhead.

The Studio, Papa Rene in Retrospect, 2020 After his passing, I was left with the remnants of a lifetime, could not have imagined beforehand what I would find in his studio. First the handwritten letters from the fifties, these captured the zeitgeist of his time. I found myself wondering: “Dad, who are you?” At the same time I was realizing that I didn’t know who I was without my father. I decided to bring his story into the present moment.

HOK gallery: Thursday 16 July – Saturday 8 August 2020 Vernissage from Thursday 16 July 17h00 until Saturday 18h00 using time-slots The small underground venue HOK offers the perfect spot for the solo exhibition: One Minute, by the Hague photographer Dana LaMonda. Her show highlights an installation and photographs from the world of Rosaly, who puts her everyday clothes in her locker and exchanges them for her fishnet stockings and a pair of palette panties for the night. Her hair is covered by a red wig that is no prettier than her real hair. The tendon room: there it should be done and quickly. Rosaly is now Joe. It is a transformation process that leaves behind the residue of a hard day’s night, corona or not. How much sperm can a floor have, and who feels no respect for Joe, this powerful lady. How can you have sex while keeping a safe distance of 1.5 meters? Contact through holes, and with this: the return of the glory hole from ancient times, holes where you can put something through and then it is done. Plastic sheets for extra hygiene, a disinfectant spray: as long as we do it quickly and safely. Prostitution 2020. The colour of Dana’s photos are dominated by pink and blue. Here we see the documentary photographer Dana pur sang: showing a world that is real. The exposition will be accompanied by a limited edition HOK publication, all-in riso. As Dana LaMonda describes it: “ One Minute, is about being wild, being bold. It is an ode to women and her creative ability that nourishes and gives: "She has the creative power to take on any desired outer or inner appearance, she can make and destroy.”

HOK gallery: Thursday 16 July – Saturday 8 August 2020 Vernissage from Thursday 16 July 17h00 until Saturday 18h00 using time-slots The small underground venue HOK offers the perfect spot for the solo exhibition: One Minute, by the Hague photographer Dana LaMonda. Her show highlights an installation and photographs from the world of Rosaly, who puts her everyday clothes in her locker and exchanges them for her fishnet stockings and a pair of palette panties for the night. Her hair is covered by a red wig that is no prettier than her real hair. The tendon room: there it should be done and quickly. Rosaly is now Joe. It is a transformation process that leaves behind the residue of a hard day’s night, corona or not. How much sperm can a floor have, and who feels no respect for Joe, this powerful lady. How can you have sex while keeping a safe distance of 1.5 meters? Contact through holes, and with this: the return of the glory hole from ancient times, holes where you can put something through and then it is done. Plastic sheets for extra hygiene, a disinfectant spray: as long as we do it quickly and safely. Prostitution 2020. The colour of Dana’s photos are dominated by pink and blue. Here we see the documentary photographer Dana pur sang: showing a world that is real. The exposition will be accompanied by a limited edition HOK publication, all-in riso. As Dana LaMonda describes it: “ One Minute, is about being wild, being bold. It is an ode to women and her creative ability that nourishes and gives: "She has the creative power to take on any desired outer or inner appearance, she can make and destroy.”

Papa René René, a true collector, moved to a small space in a residential care centre and had to renounce his collections. For three months, his daughter Dana LaMonda photographed his collections so that he could still keep them around and slowly let them go. Saskia Gras 2019

What are the ideas that we want to promote into the future? What are the ideas that we want to leave behind?

To the Moon and Back And Back Again? Women give life to this world. The life that grows inside them captures the whole world. The female body helps foster new life forms and gives birth to existence. She is like stardust, an essential link in the chain of creation. My choice is to send one of my photograph’s displaying a naked woman to the moon. The image will be cut up with a laser and the heat of the laser beam will reduce the image into particles of matter and in this way it will be transformed into stardust. This laser process creates an opportunity to insert these particles into the Moon Gallery’s cube and to travel with it to the moon.

Papa René René, a true collector, moved to a small space in a residential care centre and had to renounce his collections. For three months, his daughter Dana LaMonda photographed his collections so that he could still keep them around and slowly let them go. Saskia Gras 2019

What are the ideas that we want to promote into the future? What are the ideas that we want to leave behind?

“The Velvet Zone 2017,” een levensgrote installatie bestaande uit duizenden zwart-wit beelden die in collage-vorm bevestigd zijn aan de muur, elkaar overlappen en op deze manier weer nieuwe beelden vormen. Groeiende vanuit een piepkleine kamer ’’het kabinetje” naar de omringende wanden van de tentoonstellingszaal, net als een zwerm vogels de hoogte in. Het kabinetje had de sfeer van een peeskamer, intiem, schaars verlicht, een tikkie broeierig. De woekerende uitgroei vanuit de gestileerde werkelijkheid van de peeskamer naar de witte wanden van de tentoonstellingsruimte hielp me over mijn angst voor de witte wand heen. Voorheen gewend om in losse foto’s aan de muur te denken, heb ik in dit onderzoek de stap gezet naar een installatieve vorm van presenteren. Met de nadruk op mijn liefde voor volheid en het gevecht tijdens de ordening en selectie van die volheid, als het naar buiten gaat in een expo. Wat me tegenstaat in de ‘losse foto’s in lijst’ benadering is de verkleining / reductie van de werkelijkheid. Ik ben gek op chaos, denk in chaos en wil deze behouden in mijn werk. Dat betekent niet ‘niet -ordenen’, zeker niet. Zonder ordening en selectie is er geen kunst te maken, dan kan ik net zo goed toeschouwers gewoon de wereld in laten lopen. Al werkend komt bij mij, na de eerste liefde voor chaos altijd de strijd met de tegenhanger aan bod: ordening en selectie. Deze installatie was een groot onderzoek naar: “Hoe de chaos, de volheid van het leven, te behouden zonder die in ene kunstwerk stilistisch te ver te reduceren.” Door een geordende chaos aan te bieden, en niet een serie ‘losse foto’s in lijsten’ kon ik het publiek die laatste -reducerende- stap laten maken: foto-vlakken uitkaderen en na afloop mee naar huis nemen. De finale selectie gaf ik zo uit handen. Bevrijdend! “The Velvet Zone 2017,” een levensgrote installatie bestaande uit duizenden zwart-wit beelden die in collage-vorm bevestigd zijn aan de muur, elkaar overlappen en op deze manier weer nieuwe beelden vormen. Groeiende vanuit een piepkleine kamer ’’het kabinetje” naar de omringende wanden van de tentoonstellingszaal, net als een zwerm vogels de hoogte in. Het kabinetje had de sfeer van een peeskamer, intiem, schaars verlicht, een tikkie broeierig. De woekerende uitgroei vanuit de gestileerde werkelijkheid van de peeskamer naar de witte wanden van de tentoonstellingsruimte hielp me over mijn angst voor de witte wand heen. Voorheen gewend om in losse foto’s aan de muur te

“The Velvet Zone 2017,” een levensgrote installatie bestaande uit duizenden zwart-wit beelden die in collage-vorm bevestigd zijn aan de muur, elkaar overlappen en op deze manier weer nieuwe beelden vormen. Groeiende vanuit een piepkleine kamer ’’het kabinetje” naar de omringende wanden van de tentoonstellingszaal, net als een zwerm vogels de hoogte in. Het kabinetje had de sfeer van een peeskamer, intiem, schaars verlicht, een tikkie broeierig. De woekerende uitgroei vanuit de gestileerde werkelijkheid van de peeskamer naar de witte wanden van de tentoonstellingsruimte hielp me over mijn angst voor de witte wand heen. Voorheen gewend om in losse foto’s aan de muur te denken, heb ik in dit onderzoek de stap gezet naar een installatieve vorm van presenteren. Met de nadruk op mijn liefde voor volheid en het gevecht tijdens de ordening en selectie van die volheid, als het naar buiten gaat in een expo. Wat me tegenstaat in de ‘losse foto’s in lijst’ benadering is de verkleining / reductie van de werkelijkheid. Ik ben gek op chaos, denk in chaos en wil deze behouden in mijn werk. Dat betekent niet ‘niet -ordenen’, zeker niet. Zonder ordening en selectie is er geen kunst te maken, dan kan ik net zo goed toeschouwers gewoon de wereld in laten lopen. Al werkend komt bij mij, na de eerste liefde voor chaos altijd de strijd met de tegenhanger aan bod: ordening en selectie. Deze installatie was een groot onderzoek naar: “Hoe de chaos, de volheid van het leven, te behouden zonder die in ene kunstwerk stilistisch te ver te reduceren.” Door een geordende chaos aan te bieden, en niet een serie ‘losse foto’s in lijsten’ kon ik het publiek die laatste -reducerende- stap laten maken: foto-vlakken uitkaderen en na afloop mee naar huis nemen. De finale selectie gaf ik zo uit handen. Bevrijdend! “The Velvet Zone 2017,” een levensgrote installatie bestaande uit duizenden zwart-wit beelden die in collage-vorm bevestigd zijn aan de muur, elkaar overlappen en op deze manier weer nieuwe beelden vormen. Groeiende vanuit een piepkleine kamer ’’het kabinetje” naar de omringende wanden van de tentoonstellingszaal, net als een zwerm vogels de hoogte in. Het kabinetje had de sfeer van een peeskamer, intiem, schaars verlicht, een tikkie broeierig. De woekerende uitgroei vanuit de gestileerde werkelijkheid van de peeskamer naar de witte wanden van de tentoonstellingsruimte hielp me over mijn angst voor de witte wand heen. Voorheen gewend om in losse foto’s aan de muur te

Installatie bestaande uit duizenden zwart wit beelden

Nomination 2016, Van Ommeren-De Voogt price Jury Rapport, Dana LaMonda with her installation Vanishing Point, This work shows a mysterious depth and gives a lonely and abandoned feeling. It draws attention and invites you to walk around it several times. The jury experiences an uncanny feeling, it exudes coldness but is luminous at the same time. The installation is completely aesthetic but agitates your thought process. It evokes questions and that is an important effect of art.

To free myself from the ballast in my home, I moved my library from the house to the atelier. The books where placed with their backs facing the wall, to hide the titles and free them from what they are ‘supposed to be’ This created room to play.

To free myself from the ballast in my home, I moved my library from the house to the atelier. The books where placed with their backs facing the wall, to hide the titles and free them from what they are ‘supposed to be’ This created room to play.

Papa René René, a true collector, moved to a small space in a residential care centre and had to renounce his collections. For three months, his daughter Dana LaMonda photographed his collections so that he could still keep them around and slowly let them go. Saskia Gras 2019

Papa René René, a true collector, moved to a small space in a residential care centre and had to renounce his collections. For three months, his daughter Dana LaMonda photographed his collections so that he could still keep them around and slowly let them go. Saskia Gras 2019