Dutch photographer Paul Kooiker has opened a new exhibition titled '2025' at Acne Paper Palais Royal in Paris, featuring portraits of 42 students from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, where he taught photography for 25 years. Commissioned by Acne Studios' magazine offshoot Acne Paper, the show marks the first exhibition in the brand's new permanent gallery space. Kooiker shot the students spontaneously in corridors and classrooms, capturing them in his signature black-and-white style that blends timelessness with a sense of the unsettling, though this project breaks from his usual anonymity by focusing on faces and a specific moment in time.
This exhibition matters because it represents a rare instance of a fashion brand giving an artist complete creative freedom without commercial constraints, as Kooiker notes the project is unrelated to fashion or branding. It also serves as a tribute to young artists pursuing their dreams in challenging times, highlighting the enduring value of art education and the role of institutions like the Rietveld Academie. The show's format, evoking school portraiture and yearbooks, adds a universal, nostalgic dimension to Kooiker's typically abstract and provocative practice.