Ge -Karel van der Sterren
25 Nov 2006 - 13 Jan 2007
GE -KAREL VAN DER STERREN
Galerie Fons Welters presents a solo exhibition of work by Ge-Karel van der Sterren - his fourth in this gallery.
Once again Ge-Karel van der Sterren surprises us with a strange world that is both alienating and familiar at the same time. Behind arches of exotic flowers lie urban scenes dominated by strong colours and curious figures. A deep-red bridge pulls our gaze towards a sun-yellow tower rising from a soft-pink cloud. On the way we pass frivolous dancers who are diving elegantly into the water. Van der Sterren's 'jolly jumpers' represent a concentrated moment in time. The leap is the moment of rapt attention for artist and viewer alike, just as the here and now receives absolute attention in Van der Sterren's painted world.
At Galerie Fons Welters, Ge-Karel van der Sterren is exhibiting a group of new paintings given the collective title Point of View. For many years now, Van der Sterren has been engaged in a wholly individual renewal of painting, without losing sight of tradition. His work is known for its immense colourfulness and an impasto, almost sculptural style of painting. Large areas of colour, applied thinly in watery acrylic paint, alternate with details painted with greater precision in oil paint, which suggest the beginnings of a narrative. In many of the works exhibited here, the artist has continued his exploration of nuances in colour contrasts, as pursued at his last solo exhibition at Galerie Fons Welters (Skinnydipping, 2004). Van der Sterren's choice of subtle hues or more familiar colours is always highly deliberate, such that in certain parts of a painting he works primarily within a single colour. In this way, his colours sparkle and shine, taking on the leading role in his virtuoso painterly spectacle.
Ge-Karel van der Sterren's work is also characterised by an ambivalent interaction with the viewer, who is pulled back and forth between the images of frequently overwhelming size and colourfulness, and the image, the subject. His frivolous mode of painting is combined with perplexing subjects: reflecting diving goggles, white suits, withered plants, a dilapidated hut, traffic lights with the 'wrong' colours. Nothing, it seems, is what we think we see. Above all, in his choice of familiar, 'everyday', subjects, Ge-Karel van der Sterren, records a particular moment in time, an ancient feature of painting.
Van der Sterren's images are invitations or openings to look. His painterly qualities, his exuberant, original use of colour and baffling subjects challenge viewers to engage for one sublime moment of attention: it is up to you to make the leap.
[SvdK]
At the exhibition Point of View the monograph Heart of Paint will be available, with comments on a selection of the artist's paintings from the period 2000-2006.
© Ge -Karel van der Sterren
Galerie Fons Welters presents a solo exhibition of work by Ge-Karel van der Sterren - his fourth in this gallery.
Once again Ge-Karel van der Sterren surprises us with a strange world that is both alienating and familiar at the same time. Behind arches of exotic flowers lie urban scenes dominated by strong colours and curious figures. A deep-red bridge pulls our gaze towards a sun-yellow tower rising from a soft-pink cloud. On the way we pass frivolous dancers who are diving elegantly into the water. Van der Sterren's 'jolly jumpers' represent a concentrated moment in time. The leap is the moment of rapt attention for artist and viewer alike, just as the here and now receives absolute attention in Van der Sterren's painted world.
At Galerie Fons Welters, Ge-Karel van der Sterren is exhibiting a group of new paintings given the collective title Point of View. For many years now, Van der Sterren has been engaged in a wholly individual renewal of painting, without losing sight of tradition. His work is known for its immense colourfulness and an impasto, almost sculptural style of painting. Large areas of colour, applied thinly in watery acrylic paint, alternate with details painted with greater precision in oil paint, which suggest the beginnings of a narrative. In many of the works exhibited here, the artist has continued his exploration of nuances in colour contrasts, as pursued at his last solo exhibition at Galerie Fons Welters (Skinnydipping, 2004). Van der Sterren's choice of subtle hues or more familiar colours is always highly deliberate, such that in certain parts of a painting he works primarily within a single colour. In this way, his colours sparkle and shine, taking on the leading role in his virtuoso painterly spectacle.
Ge-Karel van der Sterren's work is also characterised by an ambivalent interaction with the viewer, who is pulled back and forth between the images of frequently overwhelming size and colourfulness, and the image, the subject. His frivolous mode of painting is combined with perplexing subjects: reflecting diving goggles, white suits, withered plants, a dilapidated hut, traffic lights with the 'wrong' colours. Nothing, it seems, is what we think we see. Above all, in his choice of familiar, 'everyday', subjects, Ge-Karel van der Sterren, records a particular moment in time, an ancient feature of painting.
Van der Sterren's images are invitations or openings to look. His painterly qualities, his exuberant, original use of colour and baffling subjects challenge viewers to engage for one sublime moment of attention: it is up to you to make the leap.
[SvdK]
At the exhibition Point of View the monograph Heart of Paint will be available, with comments on a selection of the artist's paintings from the period 2000-2006.
© Ge -Karel van der Sterren