EVELINE VAN DE GRIEND
Her aim to is to deceive reality by joining contradictions. This is a constant factor in her work: ' what you see is a starting point for contemplation.’Eveline van de Griend studies the possibility and impossibility of identification between one person and another. Her creations display a symbiosis of African /Afro- American and her own Dutch cultural heritage, symbolism and the mundane reality of today’s world, often inspired by people, events or places. As she was born in The Netherlands and raised partly in Africa, England and Russia, Van de Griend lived with the concept of contrast, cultural differences, and the confrontation between the sexes. As a result, Thus the problem of living together in diversity features heavily in Van de Griend's work.
At the moment Eveline van de Griend is working on a new series of paintings 'The myth of Hieronymus van Aken'. That will be shown in Berlin and Den Bosch in 2016, it is then 500 years ago that the famous painter Hieronymus Bosch, lived in Den Bosch, The Netherlands.
In 2017 Van de Griend will present her project Art for Gold in Capetown South Africa. A project that she started in South Africa in 2010.
More information about this project can be found on the website www.artforgold.com.
‘The greatest insult is to be ignored.’
She realized that in Dutch art History of the Golden Age the main focus was on white people. The 'denial' of black people in the Dutch paintings at that time, made her aware of her own History. This became the starting point of a series portraits of African/ Afro American representatives of the Hip-hop scene and African Kings and Queens. She plays with historical time-lines inspired by Dutch painters of the Golden age and invented her own and named it ‘History Shall Be Kind Me'. Inspired by a quote of Sir Winston Churchill ( British politician 1874 - 1965) "History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. "
In the monochrome paintings of “History Shall Be Kind To Me... ”
Haile Selassie is wrapped in the Royal Dutch Coat with symbols of the Dutch and Egyptian lion. And Marcus Garvey, a pioneer in the struggle for civil rights for black people in the United States deserves his new title as Master MG seated on the seat of Abraham Lincoln. The works arise from removing paint, instead of applying it. She approaches the canvas as a sculpture, color, weight gains meaning as she carefully remove the paint, a process in which the presentation layer by layer to the fabric is withdrawn. Because of the size and color the impact of these works on a photographic view is not always obvious. The manner of presentation is essential. The paintings are not stretched, but hung like a tapestry on the wall.