This year Gallery Ron Mandos will festively open the 11th edition of Best of Graduates. The annual exhibition shows the newest generation of contemporary artists from the Netherlands. Curator Radek Vana and the Galerie Ron Mandos team visited all Dutch art academies (BA level) to make a selection of the most outstanding, remarkable and intriguing artworks. The exhibition entails a surprising variety of media and topics. Also, it serves as a platform for the most talented artists among the recent graduates. Best of Graduates 2018 will be on view from Friday 3 August to Saturday 1 September.

Curator Radek Vana on Best of Graduates 2018: "Every year Best of Graduates gives an insight into what is happening at the Dutch art academies. No comprehensive overview, rather a reflection of the trends and – in our eyes – striking talents. We have seen fewer videos and less painting – except for a few academies like the HKU. The amount of performative work and spatial installations was striking. Thematically, the work generally remains close to formal problems and personal stories, possibly explaining the absence of complex political issues. The enthusiasm to enter the world is visible and it is this cheerful cacophony that we want to show in our exhibition. "

Gallery owner Ron Mandos about Best of Graduates 2018:"Best of Graduates has been initiated because of a desire to offer young and emerging talent a stage, as well as to show them the direction towards the professional art world. Also this year we have carefully reviewed all graduation exhibitions. In this way we closely follow the latest developments at the Dutch art academies. We discovered surprising, new work and are delighted to present a variety of media, ranging from photography to a ceramics installation. We have complete confidence in the selected artists and look forward to showing their work in the gallery. "