Monica Nouwens’ work arises from contact, cooperation and dialogue. She operates in the sphere between private and public, where a sense of community, friendship and other forms of social interaction and organization emerge. Through the generosity of the Angelinos, a part of the city opens up to her which otherwise would remain hidden. Monica Nouwens brings the resulting images back to the community, for instance as posters that she sticks up in the neighbourhoods of South East Los Angeles.

Especially for the Nederlands Fotomuseum, Nouwens created a room-filling video installation that features two large semi-transparent projection screens and sound. For its realization, Monica Nouwens worked with visual artist Sebastián Díaz Morales and video artist Ivo van Stiphout.

Monica Nouwens is a fellow of the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten. She studied at the Willem de Kooning Academy and the California Institute of the Arts. Her work has been exhibited and published internationally and nationally, including the Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam and Foam in the Netherlands. Nouwens is an associate professor in California, Mexico and Canada. In 2011, she participated in the themed exhibition ANGRY: Young & Radical at the Nederlands Fotomuseum. Thanks to the Anna Cornelis Fund, the museum has acquired a number of prints from her project Ecology of Cool (2020). ANGRY – Jong & radicaal in het Nederlands Fotomuseum.