... is a Dutch visual artist,
who three years ago embarked
on a new adventure. After a decade
of re-arranging bitmaps in Photoshop,
he is now getting a grasp on (and growing appreciation for) using charcoal , pastel, and graphite, to stain perfectly
good paper until it is completely useless for anything
else but appreciating it as art.
Axel is a portrait / figurative artist , making drawings in charcoal, pastel, graphite and silver point.
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Current repertoire:
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Portraits
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Nudes, emphasising anatomy and draftsmanship
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vintage scenes based on antique photographs
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revamped classical/mythological golden oldies
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oversized semi-abstract landscapes
" My main focus is on Humans.
I do have a bias towards the female form, and in a deeper sense, the non-gender specific Feminine, especially where it overlaps with my other fascination: issues on a planetary scale, and Gaia, our planet as an entity.
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My approach to inspirational input is that of an omnivore, feeding in 360º on both 'high' and 'low' culture. My creative output has always been similarly diverse in form. (i.e. sculptures in stone/metal/wood, paintings, murals, digital photo-based work) Only recently have I been able to narrow things down a bit.
Over the last decade, I was forced to focus on one mode of expression (2D, digital), and a couple of years ago I returned full circle to the place where my creativity once sprouted.
DRAWINGS
Early 2020, I started drawing again, after not having done that for more than a decade, and not this seriously since my childhood/adolescence, when I hardly did anything else.
I draw in a sparse yet naturalistic style, capturing many details but also adding layers dealing with realities of existence beyond the obviously visible. They are expressed in colour, direction, gesture, texture, juxtaposition of elements.
~~~ Intermezzo ~~~
My images are spiked with a promiscuous mix of style features, which often makes labeling them as such into a somewhat laughable exercise, merely justified by heightened findability.
I guess what I make is usually called 'outsider art'. Facing the world as it is evolving, in my current situation, this is my natural response. Some pieces are more about draftsmanship, and in some I am the incredulously curious alien, attempting to process present day reality on Earth. The latter are considerably harder to make into good drawings.
For a long time, I have (due to personal circumstances) not exhibited my work in a physical setting. Various selections were however always on display at various sites online.
I do recommend viewing my work on a screen that doesn't fit in the palm of your hand.
You can buy my Original Artworks on this very website's online store. (All communication fully encrypted / 14 day money back guarantee)
You can buy affordable Art Prints on paper and canvas of my drawings on Saatchi.com
2022
2023
2024
Exhibitions
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I was invited to show work 23 May – 05 June 2022, at The Other Art Fair, virtual editions , curated by Saatchi Art, as one of a worldwide selection of 150 artists.
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I was present and showing my work at Art Eindhoven, on 4 and 5 February 2023.
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On 7 and 8 October 2023, I have shown work in the castle Dalenbroeck in Herkenbosch, as part of Kunststroom Roerdaelen, where Dutch and German artists collaborate annually in several locations on both sides of the border east of Roermond.
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All of December 2023, I was showing a series of oil paintings, plus some drawings in Stek, next to the library in the center of town in Venlo.
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I presented my work at Art Eindhoven, on 3 and 4 February 2024.
STUDIO
Beckersweg 2
5915 PB Venlo, Netherlands
Chamber of Commerce: 89432452
VAT : NL004727580B30