What appeals to me most is the attention his work radiates: any object can be the subject of the work, as long as you treat it with care. A sort of modern animism: objects come to life, are breathed into by being looked at attentively. They take on a character, becoming like a character in a play. Sometimes the forms hide behind one another, perhaps afraid of the viewer’s gaze; or they stand timidly close together, like giggling schoolgirls in front of the camera for the class photo. That is the sort of association the work evokes in me.
Related artists: Klaas Gubbels
Klaas Gubbels (b. 1934) is another such artist who has remained faithful to the same theme throughout his life: coffee pot, table, chair; sometimes another object is added, creating a sort of theatrical scene, a story, a sense of tension. Everyday objects are imbued with spirit, brought to life, transformed into characters with emotional depth. The context determines the meaning of the forms. Comparable to Morandi, but in the latter’s work, the manner of painting adds an extra dimension; in his finest work, the paint ‘suggests’ the form but does not define it precisely, somewhat like in Titian’s work. Magnificent.
