ROB SCHOLTE BIOGRAPHY
Like Don Quixote from his wheel chair, Rob Scholte thrusts at the windmills of art. In the Dutch tradition he is confronted with as much lack of understanding as Rembrandt was, and has been declared as mad as Van Gogh. Scholte was born on June 1, 1958 in Amsterdam. He studied art at the Gerrit Rietvield Academie from 1977-1982 and became part of a private enterprise of artists who worked at the infamous Warmoesstraat stree in Amsterdam.
Like Warhol he had, until 1993, a studio called The Living Room, where he exhibited for the first time in 1984. Scholte grew to be a very successful artist both in critical and commercial terms. In 1993 he was appointed professor at the University of Kassel, a post he continues to hold. He now lives in Tenerife, though his work is sold in many countries. Several documentaries have been made about his life, but hopefully the best is yet to come.
Internationally he became famous by exhibiting at the Documenta in Kassel in 1987, and for decorating the Dutch studio at the Venice Biennale in 1990.
It is perhaps another irony of Scholte 's life that he has gone from precocious drug rebel, to disabled moral activist, engaging a crusade of clean-up in the streets of Amsterdam. In November, 1994, within the charred remains of his dark blue BMW, the party came to an abrupt finish. Since the bombing of his car, Rob Scholte who lost his legs, remains in Tenerife, and refuses to go back to the Netherlands until justice is done.
Return to Rob Scholte