Jeroen Vrijsen, Basoura, 2008
Jeroen Vrijsen – The nameless state
Paintings
The spaces in Jeroen Vrijsen’s paintings are vertiginous. Whether borderless or framed, the perspective poses an infinite number of questions. One sees fluid illustrations of architectural fragments, flags and typography in the dynamically painted voids. Sporadically, a human figure appears. Together they combine to give us a grasp of the relationship between the spaces, so that we can scan the scenes and try to decipher the meaning of the imagery.
Graphic symbols, as in the world of advertising, refer to human activity in a distinct language. Buildings, or ‘city skeletons’ as Vrijsen describes them, tell us something about human intervention in space or its neglect thereof. The flag is the ultimate symbol of identity. Using these elements Vrijsen philosophises in paint about the definition of national and cultural identity. His nameless state is given a face in accordance with the reaction of the viewer.
German painters
Vrijsen feels an affinity with German painters, such as those from the New Leipzig School. The use of architecture in making dramatic reference to the past is all important in their paintings and the poetic imagery is, in the case of many, unmistakably East German: unreal scenes, dreamlike complexity, hidden meanings. Vrijsen organises working trips for Dutch artists in the Tripkaukazerne, on the border with former East Germany.
Jeroen Vrijsen (Valkenswaard 1975) studied at the Academy of Visual Art and Design in ’s-Hertogenbosch. He lives and works in Eindhoven.
On show in the Tuingalerij
