On May 18 we attended the opening of a new exhibition at NQ Gallery with an intriguing theme: GEIST, evoking a ghost or yeast, we would rather say spirit, questioning the influence of Vincent van Gogh on contemporary artists.
How far do his paintings and images stretch and how does it still define our collective pictorial history? Ronald Zuurmond made a series of 39 images, based on the very reworked pieces of Arnulf Rainer, which were also inspired by van Gogh.
Ronald Zuurmond paints — or rather works with paint, with which he depicts landscapes, still lifes and (self) portraits.
Overpainting and “underpainting”, Ronald Zuurmond’s creative pictorial process is continuous and always reinvented, according to the artist. This creative approach he did also use when creating the present collection. Like an archaeologist of his own work, he searches and exposes underlying layers.
Further works inspired by van Gogh were made for this exhibition by other artists, notably Sara van Vliet, Lotte Wieringa and photographer Stacii Samidin.
Lotte Wieringa made a large painting evoking Van Gogh’s corn fields, with a patch of blue, reminiscent of the dark blue sky the master painted…
Lotte Wieringa (see photo below) has also upcoming solo exhibitions at van Gogh Huis and also at the New Art Section of Art Rotterdam 2023, in relation to her fellowship of Boijmans van Beuningen.
Her pictorial style balances between annotation and abstraction, which gives an extra panache and interest to her work.
Sara Van Vliet (photo here above) has a background as a top athlete, and she puts her physical energy into her large canvases as she experiments with plaster, paint and glue. In the spirit of van Gogh, she painted a bouquet of large sun flowers in a vase. Using her fingers, she quickly draws in drying plaster, adding a distinct personal touch to her work.
Furthermore Moldovian artist Alexander Tinei, living now in Budapest, shows two paintings evoking van Gogh’s imagery of people on farmers’ fields.
Stacii Samidin showed a stunning collage of people of all ages and walks of life, evoking the love for people and humanity which characterized van Gogh throughout his life.
Marc Mulders showed in his typical style an oil painting with the colors and textures of nature, evoking van Gogh’s pictures of nature and his landscapes.
Nick Ervinck, a contemporary Belgian artist whose work includes massive installations, handmade and 3D printed sculptures, ceramics, prints, drawings, computer graphics and animated films, showed elegant ceramic sculptures. See photo below.
The flower theme was also taken up by guest artist Marieke Bolhuis, with her large sculptures of flower plants. See photo below…
The exhibition was officially opened by Ron Dirven, Director-Curator of the Vincent van Gogh house. Here you see on the left gallery owner Niqui van Olphen and on the right Ron Dirven.
The exhibition runs at NQ Gallery at Mechelsesteenweg 11, 2018 Antwerp until 2 July, Thu-Sat 11am – 6pm, Sun 2pm – 6pm.
Hans Knol ten Bensel
