AMSTERDAM.- Hend Samir is the winner of the fourteenth edition of the ABN AMRO Art Award. The jury describes Samir (1986) as a painter pur sang with a virtuosic technique who, in her work, tells enigmatic stories that seem to be constantly in motion. At the same time, she raises universal questions about trauma, sexuality, family relationships and forms of cohabitation. The ABN AMRO Art Award supports the development of promising female artists in the Netherlands and provides a platform for them to reach the widest possible audience. As part of the Award, Hend Samir will have an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam March 5th, 2027, and later that year at the ABN AMRO Art Space.
Emergence and disappearance
The jury is enthusiastic about Samir’s authentic style, in which she switches effortlessly between small, intimate canvases and expansive, metre-long works. In her swirling, enigmatic, and inviting paintings, everything seems to flow into each other. From her flamboyant, multi-layered brushstrokes – partly painted wet-on-wet – everyday scenes and a diverse array of figures emerge and just as quickly seem to disappear again. As a viewer, we are drawn into this world of continuous movement and, while held there, discover a story unfolding simultaneously across multiple fronts.
Samir’s work evokes associations with German Expressionism and the work of artists such as Vincent van Gogh and James Ensor. They, too, were guided by raw, sometimes inarticulable emotions. Samir's themes, however, are utterly contemporary. The scenes in her paintings take place in abstract panoramic landscapes or in cross-sections of architecture. She once referred to these spaces in her paintings as ‘a map that you can navigate through, spaces that function as a kind of collective womb in which we seek safety and connection.’ This sense of connection explains her choice for a broad perspective in which everything exists side by side and at the same time. The jury views her intuitive way of working, in which scenes arise almost naturally from the undulating and swirling layers of paint, as surprising and energetic.
Danila Cahen, curator of the ABN AMRO Art Collection: “Samir’s dynamic painting style makes it feel as if you can follow her brushstrokes, which seem to balance effortlessly between chance and control, creating order out of chaos. At the same time, she addresses questions of where one finds refuge when all is in flux and ever-changing, and the search for safety and connection. Topics that are highly relevant in our time.”
Rein Wolfs, director of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam: “Hend Samir’s work shows how painting can move between intimacy and monumentality, between recognition and enigma. In her canvases, worlds emerge that do not reveal themselves at first glance, but invite the viewer to keep searching. It is precisely this tension that makes her work exceptional. We are delighted to support her with the ABN AMRO Art Award and to share her work with a wide audience at the museum.”
Hend Samir (Cairo 1986) is an Egyptian artist. After her studies at Helwan University of Fine Arts, she worked as an artist in residence at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. In 2021, she was one of the winners of the Royal Award for Modern Painting. Samir’s work has been shown in national and international solo and group exhibitions, including Centraal Museum, Utrecht (2025); W139, Amsterdam (2024); Art Basel Statements, Gypsum Gallery, Basel (2023) and Harkawik, New York (2022).
The jury of the fourteenth edition of the ABN AMRO Art Award this year consisted of Danila Cahen (curator ABN AMRO Art Collection), Christa Beaufort (board member ABN AMRO Art & Heritage Foundation), Helen Verhoeven (visual artist), Emily Pethick (independent curator) and Rein Wolfs (director Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam).
