Bas van den Hurk
The circus is in town
2016
Silkscreen, oil paint and powder pigment on silk in artist Plexi-box frame
46 × 63 × 2 cm
Unique painting, in a series of 10 variations, signed and numbered by the artist
Uitverkocht
over dit werk
For this new series, Bas van den Hurk started with one large piece of silk. He proceeded to wrinkle the material and printed a pattern on it – based on the famous image of the Pierrot-Éclair costume designed by modernist artist Sonia Delaunay for the 1926 film Le P’tit Parigot. Next, van den Hurk cut the silk into pieces, individually stretched it on frames and painted on them, using oil paint and powder pigment. Finally, he mounted the painted silk in ten plexiglass cases.
Sonia Delaunay is not the only artist whose work echoes through this series. Other images have had a prominent place in van den Hurk’s studio while working on this series. Amongst them is Picasso’s painting for the United Nations in Paris, as well as images from Richard Aldrich and Raoul De Keyser. While working, Bas van den Hurk always listens to music, and elements of these songs often find their way into his work. The title of this edition is a line from Bob Dylan’s Desolation Row.
This edition consists of ten unique paintings on draped silk, individually framed in plexiglass cases. The artist likes how the very rigid form of the plastic case opposes the organic shape of the roughly cut un-stretched silk. At the same time, the reflective character of the plexi is a continuation of the reflection of light on the silk. This presents painting as a medium that is open to movement and not static, how it is often perceived.
Pleae note: Since the plexiglass case is quite fragile, we only send this work in a custom-made crate. Upon checkout, the production cost of this crate (€100) is already included in the shipping price. If you prefer to not pay for a custom-made crate and want to pick up the work yourself in Brussels, please contact us at thomas@artlead.net
over Bas van den Hurk
Bas van den Hurk’s process-based practice explored the boundaries of painting. His works relate strongly to art history – to specific viewing points and ways of expressing characteristics to early twentieth-century modernism. In modernism, different visions and styles remain strictly separate – minimalism, abstract expressionism, pop art. In van den Hurk’s practise, the distinctions between these modernist art movements fade away.
Characteristic for van den Hurk’s intuitive way of painting is multilingualism, uniting a multitude of modernist languages, styles and techniques. His most recent works for example combine abstract expressionist gestures in oil paint with pop-like patterns, printed on wrinkled silk.
To Van den Hurk, collaborating with others is important. This collaborative character of van den Hurk’s practise is another link to early modernism. He shares modernist’s utopian ideal that art is not something made in a vacuum, but is always part of the life we’re living. That’s why Bas van den Hurk often collaborates on projects like clothing or architectural designs.
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