Paul Panhuysen

Who is Paul Panhuysen?

Paul Panhuysen is a Dutch composer, visual and sound artist. He founded and directed Het Apollohuis, an art space that functioned during the 80's and 90's having artists doing sound installations, sound sculptures, and concerts about free improvisation, experimental music, and electronic music.

Panhuysen first followed Monumental and Autonomous Art Studies at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht, and then followed Sociology of Art Studies at the University of Utrecht. Defined as artist, musician, curator, art sociologist and art theoretician, his artistic interests were first inclined towards Abstract Expressionism, Minimal art and then Performance art.

Panhuysen’s production is greatly multifaceted though the goal remains contributing to improve the daily life of people. Marked by this social motivation, he organised several events such as the “Road Block” in Veendam to allow children to play safely at the street. In addition to this, he became Director of the Art School Vredeman de Vries, Leeuwarden with a focus on raising the quality of education. The social recognition of his work was manifested with the prizes Mention of Honnor, Prix Europe de peinture, Oostende and Frisiana Award, Leeuwarden, as well as with the job appointments at the Municipal Museum The Hague as member of educational staff and at the Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven in charge of the Educational and Public Relations Department.