Cheryl Schurgers (1991) is a Dutch visual artist based in Amsterdam, working in performative photography.
Since the age of fifteen, she has photographed herself, building an ongoing visual archive through repetition and posing. Using her body as material, she creates carefully staged images that draw on familiar visual languages from cinema and advertising.
Beneath the apparent control of the image lies a tension between the desire to shape one’s own image and the vulnerability of being subject to it. By bringing the roles of maker and muse together, she turns the voyeuristic gaze back on itself.
She graduated from the Photography department of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2014. Her work has been presented at venues including Unseen Photo Fair, Fotomuseum Winterthur, where she was selected for Plat(t)form, and Atelier Néerlandais in Paris. Her work is held in private collections across Europe and the United States.
Inquiries
Email / contact@cherylschurgers.com
Instagram / cherylschurgers
b. 1991, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Education
- 2011 – 2014 | BFA Photography, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, NL
- 2009 – 2011 | Fine Art, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Maastricht, NL
- 2007 – 2009 | Spatial Design, SintLucas, Boxtel, NL
Art Direction
- 2019 – Present | Convento de Mértola – Artist Residency in a former Franciscan monastery in collaboration with artist and founder Christiaan Zwanikken, Mértola, PT
Museum Experience
- 2026 – Present | Assistant to the Head of Exhibitions and the Head of Bureau Collections, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, NL
- 2022 – 2026 | Assistant to the Head of Museum, Anne Frank House, Amsterdam, NL
Performances
- 2017 | A Cheryl – In collaboration with Dutch fashion collective We Are Muze during Paris Fashion Week, Atelier Néerlandais, Paris, FR
- 2013 | Exoskeletal MK1 – In collaboration with kinetic artist Christiaan Zwanikken, Kinetica Art Fair 2013, Ambika P3, London, UK
Selected Exhibitions & Events
- 2025 – Present | CS Instant Project at @cherylschurgers Instagram
- 2020 – 2021 | HAUNT – Online project at @cherylschurgers Instagram
- 2018 | Alumni Night by Mondays Collective, Galerie Sehnsucht, Rotterdam, NL
- 2018 | On Display – In collaboration with Dutch fashion collective We Are Muze during Paris Fashion Week, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, FR
- 2018 | Cheryl’s Feast, Zamen, Amsterdam, NL
- 2017 | A Cheryl – In collaboration with Dutch fashion collective We Are Muze during Paris Fashion Week, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, FR
- 2017 | A Cheryl – In collaboration with Dutch fashion collective We Are Muze during Paris Fashion Week, Atelier Néerlandais, Paris, FR
- 2017 | Nasty Women, Josilda da Conceicao Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
- 2017 | Archive Series – In collaboration with Dutch fashion collective We Are Muze during Paris Fashion Week, Palais de la Bourse, Paris, FR
- 2017 | Skin Campaign SS17 – Commissioned work for Marie-Stella-Maris Flagship Store, Keizersgracht, Amsterdam, NL
- 2015 | SAVOUR – Solo Exhibition, Rozenstraat, Amsterdam, NL
- 2015 | NEXT OF KIN, De Kleine Komedie, Amsterdam, NL
- 2015 | Settings – In collaboration with Dutch jewelry designer Christie Schellings during Salone del Mobile Milano, Ventura Lambrate, Milan, IT
- 2015 | Settings – In collaboration with Dutch jewelry designer Christie Schellings, Munich Jewelry Week, DE
- 2015 | Plattform 2015 – Curated Portfolio Review, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Zurich, CH
- 2014 | This Art Fair 2014, Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, NL
- 2014 | NEXT OF KIN, The Frozen Fountain, Amsterdam, NL
- 2014 | Unseen Photo Fair 2014, Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam, NL
- 2014 | NEXT OF KIN, Graduation Show 2014, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, NL
- 2013 | Overal – part two, Butcher’s Tears, Amsterdam, NL
- 2013 | Overal – part one, Chetvert, Saint-Petersburg, RU
- 2013 | Untersicht, Galerie der HFBK, Hamburg, DE
