Last sunday the artist collective KunstNonStop celebrated the closing event of the exposition Discomfort at Hengelo. For six weeks my Katalog der Angst was shown on the walls of the HeArtGallery. I took part and had a very good time. We shared the entrance money so that everyone of the 39 artists received 2,90 €. Most of us donated it to KunstNonStop for more good initiatives to come. In the end I drew my four pictures from the wall and went home by bike.

These days I am very focussed on a new project. It came to me by reading the German novel by Roman Ehrlich: Die schrecklichen Tage des fürchterlichen Grauens. A very long read and for me it somehow worked as a catalogue of fear. Not as in being afraid of spiders, darkness, large squares – but actual existential fear. The fear which won’t go away but always is present under a very thin layer of normality. There is a very quickly approaching deadline and in the end of April hopefully six images by me will be shown at the exposition “Discomfort” in Hengelo. To be continued…

(The picture below is an outtake from last Sunday but very well contains the tension I am looking for.)

In January I was aked to tell something about my work in the local newspaper. Have a look how it turned out.

The show is on, the Café Bolwerk is open. Please go visit!

My series “Een Europese geschiedenis” will be on display in Café Het Bolwerk for the entire month of September. The series is inspired by this (Dutch) poem written by Jan Glas that goes by the same name:

Jan, 58

Een Europese geschiedenis

 

Ik kende alleen de zee, het dorp en de landerijen,

de meisjes die met bloemen in hun haar het voorjaar vierden,

volmaakt ondergeschikt aan onze beschaving.

 

Toen ik eenentwintig was ging ik naar de stad

en ben daar gebleven. De meeuwen

keren elke dag  terug naar de zee.

In de stad wordt het voorjaar niet gevierd.

 

Ik werd een typische anonieme Noord-Europese man.

Ik sliep op een goed matras,

iedere dag was ik online.

Ik dronk te veel, dat is waar,

maar dat doet een man die gedoemd is te mislukken.

The opening of the exhibition will take place on sunday the 3rd. You are welcome to visit Café het Bolwerk during it’s opening hours and enjoy my series with a cup of tea or a fine wine!

The Fire at the Forest show is prolonged and will last untill the 21st of July. So please take your chance and go to Marktstraat 12 in Enschede. You will find the pictures on the third floor.

Boekhandel Broekhuis