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SIT: NOIR – C.A.V.E. Gallery – Los Angeles

April 19, 2011 By Wendy Campbell

Dutch artist SIT has been part of the Amsterdam creative scene for many years. In his first US exhibition “NOIR“, at C.A.V.E. Gallery in Los Angeles,  SIT examines the “troubled relation between the animal kingdom and mankind” and focuses on the “magnificent beauty of the beast and the way it is used to serve the vanity that is intricate to humanity.”

In a bold black and white palette, NOIR is a “haunting series that is simultaneously sexy and morbid. The sensual textures of fur and feathers are juxtaposed with pale animal skulls and soft female curves – representing the perverse ‘need’ to strip animals of their skins, and exposing the disturbing reality of the suffering and extinction of species to satisfy human narcissism.”

NOIR runs through May 7, 2011. To see more, visit SIT.com.





Filed Under: ART Tagged With: CAVE Gallery, Dutch Art, exquisite corpse, SIT

Raymond Lemstra: Illustration

February 15, 2011 By Wendy Campbell

Thirty two year old Amsterdam based artist Raymond Lemstra likes to refer to the “illustrative nature of primitive drawings and sculptures.”  “What I find interesting about these is the distortion as a result of selective emphasis; parts of interest are emphasized, unimportant parts reduced or left out. For characters this means they come out big headed, where focus is on the face and the body is trimmed to its essential properties. I deliberately apply this primitive logic as a method. But I don’t apply it equally to all aspects of my work. Instead, I choose to use a very mature, highly laboursome technique for the execution of my work. This contrast, between the naive and sophisticated, gives the work a somewhat awkward taste. A clash of intent, simultaniously assuming simplicity and complexity, randomness and reason, flaws and perfection. The purpose of which is to inspire a sense of joy and discovery.”

To see more of Lemstra’s work, visit RaymondLemstra.nl.



Filed Under: ART, Illustration Tagged With: Dutch Art, Holland Art, Netherlands Art, Raymond Lemstra

Esther Barend: Abstract and Portable Art

December 14, 2010 By Wendy Campbell

It’s been over a year since I last caught up one of my favourite abstract artists – Netherlands based Esther Barend. Since that time she has been busy moving to a new studio, exhibiting in numerous solo and group shows, and creating a series of new paintings and portable art bags.

Barend’s vivid paintings are created by mixing the paint colours on the canvas with a lot of layers both thick and thin, resulting in a spontaneous, intensely coloured,  yet balanced form of personal expression.

“Impulsions and Thoughts – Running Through My Head” (the featured image above) actually has four sides. The image shown here  is Esther’s favourite.  “It reflects the vortex of impressions, impulsions, and thoughts running through my head, together with the feelings running through my heart.  The world literally is getting smaller every day. There are positive and negative aspects to this.  The negative ones give me feelings of sadness, powerlessness, and sometimes anger. Often they confuse me because I cannot comprehend what people are capable of doing to each other. I prefer to focus on the positive aspects which warm my heart and give me the necessary wings to keep going. That is why the main colour of this painting is red.”

Barend has also created a new series of her fantastic one-of-a-kind art bags.  “These art-bags are much more wearable, functional, and durable than the first collection. Although they are unique pieces of art, valuable and vulnerable, you can still walk in the rain without having to worry!”

Esther’s next exhibition is at Gallery Tatiana Tournemine in Paris starting at the end of January 2011.

To see more of Esther Barend’s work or to inquire about her art bags, visit EstherBarend.eu.  You can also check out her blog at EstherBarend.Blogspot.com.





Filed Under: ART, Women in Visual Arts Tagged With: abstract-art, Dutch Art, Esther Barend, Netherlands Art

Sitaki (SIT): Painting

November 16, 2010 By Wendy Campbell

“Born in 1976, Sitaki (aka SIT)  has been part of the Amsterdam creative scene for many years. SIT was involved in action painting, graphic design, advertising and more – until he went back to square one to find his true essence – back to head and handcraft.  Themes in SIT’s work include his struggle to get “unwired”, and the painful antithesis between Mother Nature and today’s implacable materialistic society that mankind has created for itself.

To see more, visit SitNie.com.




Filed Under: ART, Drawing, Illustration Tagged With: Dutch Art, SIT, Sitaki

Chris Berens: Mixed Media

November 6, 2010 By Wendy Campbell

“Amsterdam artist Chris Berens is an anomaly in the art world, an expert painter who does not use traditional media (he uses inks on photo paper rather than oils on canvas…and NO digital or photographic elements whatsoever), but nonetheless creates compellingly executed, enigmatic, and emotionally resonant paintings.

His work features a fantastical mélange of exotic creatures and 18th century imagery, floating in buttermilk colored clouds, lush verdant countrysides, or silvery sea blues. Photo realistic, totem-like animals and distorted childlike people float like dreams through blurry surrealistic European city scapes or drift on stormy seas on decrepit ships in a soft focus haze, shimmering as if in a fevered dream. It is almost shocking to look at, but in the gentlest of ways.

Beyond the wondrous imagery there is another startling and unusual aspect to Chris’ work, in which the smooth, translucent look of the his medium of choice (all works are created with drawing ink, bistre, graphite, parquet lacquer, alkyd coating varnish on inkjet photo paper that is then mounted on wooden panels and adhered with bookbinder’s glue) is contrasted with fact that the paintings are patch-worked together, in pieces ranging from 1 to 3 inches across. Each section has been been painted numerous times and layered over each other and each segment flows seamlessly into each other, creating a cohesive image. This technique creates images with such depth, that along with his soft focus look and technical perfection make most people assume they are seeing digital imagery or manipulated photographs (at least when seeing it on a printed page or on a computer screen- in person the work has the “artist’s hand”- a sense of aliveness digital work can not capture). However it is entirely created and painted by hand with painstaking skill, time, and precision from beginning to end.” (from Roq La Rue)

Berens’ exhibition “Leeuwenhart” is on now at Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle through December 4, 2010. To see more of Berens’ work, visit ChrisBerens.com.  Check out Chris’ blogspot page to view images of the entire Leeuwenhart show.




Filed Under: ART, Mixed Media Tagged With: Chris Berens, Dutch Art, Netherlands Art

Johan Potma: Painting/Illustration

October 17, 2010 By Wendy Campbell

A Bee Keepers Promise © Johan Potma

Some more Pop Surrealism for you today by Dutch painter and illustrator Johan Potma. Potma graduated from the Minerva Art Academy in Groningen, Netherlands, in 2000 and currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany.  He typically works with acrylics and collage on old wooden surfaces such as box lids, signs, cigar boxes etc.  “The materials I use tell part of the story through the stains, old nails,dents and cracks. The other part is told through all sorts of monsters, freaks and oddballs acting out my ideas, and hopefully spark a positive thought in you.”

To see more from Johan Potma, visit JohanPotma.com.  There are also good portfolios of his work on Art Wanted and Brooklyn Art Project.

The Housekeeper © Johan Potma Flat and Tired © Johan Potma A Bad Hare Day © Johan Potma

Filed Under: ART, Illustration Tagged With: Dutch Art, John Potma, Netherlands Art

Piet van den Boog: Painting

June 26, 2010 By Wendy Campbell

how-can-something-so-pure-be-so-difficult-piet-van-den-boog-2009

Born in 1951, Piet van den Boog is a Dutch artist living and working in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Van den Boog studied telecommunicaitons at Delft Technical University and painting at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. A full time painter since 1994, van den Boog is influenced by Dutch painters including Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer.

In his current series of paintings, van den Boog “evokes an array of emotion in the spectator by allowing him/her to be present in a profoundly intimate setting. Van den Boog’s method of using etching fluids to oxidize the surface of the unfinished black steel creates a deep and weighty aesthetic. Van den Boog reveals his thematic intention through controlling the corrosion of the steel, therefore manifesting the metaphor of the figs’ demise through his materials. He lays an under-painting in acrylic for quick-drying and a sketchy finish, and then applies a top layer of oil paint. This technique creates nuances and details in the portraits and intensifies the color. In addition, referencing the French tale of the sculptor Rodin and his mistress Camille Claudel, van den Boog uses clay on the surface as a medium and a metaphor. With their complex medium of two-toned steel, two types of paint, and a top layer of clay, these paintings take on an innovative textural and dynamic quality.”

To see more of van den Boog’s work, visit VandenBoog.com.



Sources: Art Knowledge News, Mike Weiss Gallery

Filed Under: ART Tagged With: Dutch Art, Netherlands Art, Piet van den Boog

5 Women Artists You Should Know: Vol. 4

January 30, 2010 By Wendy Campbell

Women in the Visual Arts © Wendy Campbell

Beatrix-Potter-Tales-of-Peter-Rabbit1. Beatrix Potter – July 28, 1866- December 22, 1943 – Born in South Kensington in London, England,  Potter is best known for her  illustrated children’s books. She was an author, illustrator, mycologist, farmer, and conservationist. In  her 20s, Beatrix developed into a talented naturalist. She studied plants and animals at the Cromwell Road museums and learned how to draw with her eye to a microscope.

In her thirties, Potter published the highly successful children’s book, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”. She began writing and illustrating children’s books full time and became financially independent of her parents

Potter died on 22 December 1943, and left almost all of her property to the National Trust. She wrote and illustrated a total of 28 books, including the 23 Tales, the ‘little books’ that have been translated into more than 35 languages and sold over 100million copies.  Her stories have been retold in various formats including a ballet, films, and in animation.

Born-Kiki-Smith-20022. Kiki Smith – Born on January 18, 1954, in Nuremberg, Germany and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, Smith studied at the Hartford Art School in Connecticut from 1974 – 1976.   “Since 1980, Smith has produced a variety of work including sculpture, prints, installations and others that have been admired for having a highly developed, yet sometimes unsettling, sense of intimacy in her works’ timely political and social provocations. These traits have brought her critical success.”

The Kitchen in New York hosted Smith’s first solo exhibition in 1982. She has exhibited annually from 1982 at the Fawbush Gallery in New York.  In 1990, Smith received significant acclaim for her exhibition in the Projects Room at the Museum of Modern Art. “By manipulating everyday materials such as glass, ceramic, fabric and paper, Smith’s work examined the dichotomy between the psychological and physiological power of the body.”

Smith has also had major solo showings at the Centre d’Art Contemporain in Geneva (1990), Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Massachusetts (1992), Whitechapel Art Gallery in London (1995), Museum of Modern Art in New York (2003), and Walker Art Center in Minneapolis (2006).

In 2009 Smith was awarded the Brooklyn Museum Women In The Arts Award. She currently lives and works in New York.

Portrait-of-Marie-Antoinette-Elisabeth-Louise-Vigee-le-Brun-17833. Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun – April 16, 1755 – March 20, 1842 – Born in Paris, France, Vigée-Le Brun is recognized as one of  Europe’s foremost portrait painters of the eighteenth century.

At the age of 15, Vigée-Lebrun was earning enough money from her portrait painting to support herself, her widowed mother, and her younger brother. For a decade she was Marie Antoinette’s favorite painter. European aristocrats, actors, and writers were also her patrons and she was elected a member of the art academies in 10 cities.

Vigée-Lebrun married Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Lebrun, a painter and art dealer who helped her gain access to the art world. In 1783, Marie Antoinette appointed her a member of Paris’s Royal Academy. As one of only four female academicians, Vigée-Lebrun enjoyed a high artistic, social, and political profile.

With the onset of the French Revolution Vigée-Lebrun fled France with her nine year old daughter. For  the next 12 years she was commissioned to create portraits of the most celebrated residents of Rome, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Berlin.  Vigée-Lebrun returned permanently to France  in 1809.

Scholars estimate that Vigée-Lebrun produced more than 600 paintings. Her memoirs were published in 1835-37 and have been translated and reprinted numerous times.

The-Happy-Couple-Judith-Leyster-16304. Judith Leyster – July 28, 1609– February 10, 1660 – Born in Haarlem, Netherlands, Leyster was a Dutch Golden Age painter. She was one of three significant women artists of this period. Little is known of Leyster’s early training but the degree of professional success she achieved was remarkable for a female artist of her time. By 1633 she was the first woman admitted to the Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke and in 1635 she is recorded as having three students.

“Stylistically, much of Leyster’s work resembles that of Frans Hals. She favored the same types of subjects and compositions, notably energetic genre scenes depicting one or two figures, often children, engaging in some kind of merrymaking. In addition to these compositions, Leyster also painted still lifes.”

In 1636 Leyster married fellow artist Jan Miense Molenaer, and moved to Amsterdam, where the couple lived until 1648. She painted very little after her marriage. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the early works of Leyster and her husband, as they often shared studio props and models, and may have worked on each other’s pictures.

creacion-de-las-aves-Remedios-Varo-1957

5. Remedios Varo – December 16, 1908-October 8, 1963 – Born in Anglés, near Girona, Spain, Remedios Varo is often overlooked as an important surrealist painter. Varo studied art in Madrid and moved several times between Paris and Spain where she met and exhibited with other leading Surrealist artists. In 1941, Varo and her husband Benjamin Péret fled the Nazi occupation in Paris and moved to Mexico City where many other Surrealists had sought exile. Her first solo exhibition in Mexico at the Galería Diana in 1955 was a great success and earned her international recognition.

Varo’s palette consisted mainly of somber oranges, light browns, shadowy grays and greens. Her paintings were carefully drawn, and depicted stories or mystic legends. She often painted heroines engaged in alchemical activities. Varo was influenced by artists such as Francisco Goya, El Greco, Picasso, Giorgio de Chirico, Braque, pre-Columbian art, and the writing of André Breton. She also borrowed from Romanesque Catalan frescoes and medieval architecture, mixed nature and technology, and combined reality and fantasy to create paintings that defied time and space. Varo was also influenced by a variety of mystic and hermetic traditions. She was interested in the ideas of C. G. Jung and the theories of G. I. Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky, Helena Blavatsky, Meister Eckhart, and the Sufis.  She was also fascinated with the legend of the Holy Grail, sacred geometry, alchemy and the I-Ching. She saw in each of these an avenue to self-knowledge and the transformation of consciousness.

Sources: DAF-Varos, Wikipedia-Potter, V&A Museum-Potter, Wikipedia-Vigée-Le Brun, National Museum of Women in the Arts,  MoMA – Smith, Wikipedia-Smith, Wikipedia – Leyster, National Gallery of Art – Leyster

Filed Under: 5 Women Artists Series, ART, Drawing, Illustration, Photography, Women in Visual Arts Tagged With: Beatrix Potter, Dutch Art, Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun, English Art, French Art, German Art, Judith Leyster, Kiki Smith, Netherlands Art, Peter Rabbit, Remedios Varo, Spanish Art, Surrealism

Patricia Van Lubeck: Psychedelic Gardens

August 9, 2009 By Wendy Campbell

Sunday’s image is from Dutch born painter Patricia Van Lubeck.  To see more of her ‘psychedelic gardens’ visit VanLubeck.com.  Enjoy!

Populus Flucta © Patricia Van Lubeck


Filed Under: ART, Women in Visual Arts Tagged With: Dutch Art, Netherlands Art, Patricia Van Lubeck

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