Tjebbe Beekman
21 Oct - 25 Nov 2006
TJEBBE BEEKMAN
From his studio in Friedrichshain, former East Berlin, Tjebbe Beekman expresses his pessimistic vision on modern life. With his grant, monumental paintings, he shows the dynamics of a city. That he does so in Berlin is hardly a coincidence. No other city unites so much roaring past with all thinkable aspects of a contemporary metropolis. After his residency at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, he therefore chose to live and work in Berlin. The architecture, the past and the present of the city are a source of inspiration for his, often huge paintings, consisting of canvas on wooden frames. They depict grey concrete flats in suburbs, satellite antenna’s on the balconies. In his latest works, Beekman shows us interiors for the first time: supermarkets and shopping malls: big representatives of our current consumer society.
Beekman’s paintings embody the radical processes that characterise our society: migration, globalisation. These processes are irreversible and happen very fast. They changed the sight of our western cities immensely: skyscrapers and mosques appeared in great numbers, in streets you hear all sorts of music styles and smell at least as many different cuisines. Add to this modern technologies and growing individualism and you will understand the confusing state of mind of the individual. We’re all in constant contact with the entire world, through Internet and satellite television, but we don’t know our next-door neighbour. And even though we never actually see a human being in Beekman’s paintings, we can feel how he has lost his grip on the world that surrounds him.
Tjebbe Beekman finished his study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague in 1997. He uses different materials to paint: acrylic, sand, enamel. To make sure these materials don’t run, his canvases or panels lay on the ground as he paints them. His works are the results of several digital photos of the same building, street or interior. The images that come about look fragmented and chaotic but they’re composed with mathematical precision. In small, grey acrylic sketches Beekman responds to the world news: Guantanamo Bay, the Oval Office. At this moment Beekman also participates in the exhibition Nederland-Duitsland at the GEM Museum, The Hague.
(Manon Braat)
© Tjebbe Beekman
HOFFNUNG II, ACRYLIC, SAND, ACRYLIC RESIN ON CANVAS ON PANEL. 123 X 123 CM
From his studio in Friedrichshain, former East Berlin, Tjebbe Beekman expresses his pessimistic vision on modern life. With his grant, monumental paintings, he shows the dynamics of a city. That he does so in Berlin is hardly a coincidence. No other city unites so much roaring past with all thinkable aspects of a contemporary metropolis. After his residency at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, he therefore chose to live and work in Berlin. The architecture, the past and the present of the city are a source of inspiration for his, often huge paintings, consisting of canvas on wooden frames. They depict grey concrete flats in suburbs, satellite antenna’s on the balconies. In his latest works, Beekman shows us interiors for the first time: supermarkets and shopping malls: big representatives of our current consumer society.
Beekman’s paintings embody the radical processes that characterise our society: migration, globalisation. These processes are irreversible and happen very fast. They changed the sight of our western cities immensely: skyscrapers and mosques appeared in great numbers, in streets you hear all sorts of music styles and smell at least as many different cuisines. Add to this modern technologies and growing individualism and you will understand the confusing state of mind of the individual. We’re all in constant contact with the entire world, through Internet and satellite television, but we don’t know our next-door neighbour. And even though we never actually see a human being in Beekman’s paintings, we can feel how he has lost his grip on the world that surrounds him.
Tjebbe Beekman finished his study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague in 1997. He uses different materials to paint: acrylic, sand, enamel. To make sure these materials don’t run, his canvases or panels lay on the ground as he paints them. His works are the results of several digital photos of the same building, street or interior. The images that come about look fragmented and chaotic but they’re composed with mathematical precision. In small, grey acrylic sketches Beekman responds to the world news: Guantanamo Bay, the Oval Office. At this moment Beekman also participates in the exhibition Nederland-Duitsland at the GEM Museum, The Hague.
(Manon Braat)
© Tjebbe Beekman
HOFFNUNG II, ACRYLIC, SAND, ACRYLIC RESIN ON CANVAS ON PANEL. 123 X 123 CM