who 3 needs art? This booklet gives an impression of the art collection of artists represented by Amstel Gallery, The Netherlands. More art and information: www.amstelgallery.com.
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ARTISTS 5 6 Gerard Boersma 10 Remco van den Bosch 14 Ronald Ceuppens 18 Angèle Etoundi Essamba 22 Farsad Labbauf 26 Roos & Chris 30 Patricia Steur 34 Loreta Visic
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Gerard Boersma 7 The hyper-realist paintings of Gerard Boersma are about everyday situations people encounter in modern city landscapes. He registrates common people on the streets, in public transport, in stores, waiting rooms, museums or just shows the surroundings that people live in. Because these situations are often gone in a second, Boersma takes pictures of them, which he later use as a starting point for his realistic paintings. The paintings tempt to stand still at things that are usually not observed. The loneliness of some people, the lack of communication between people, how people retire within oneself while waiting or just the surroundings we encounter everyday. A moment in modern urban living with all the distortion that comes with it. 6 Entombment acrylics on panel, 90,3 x 70 cm, 2009 8 top The Art Bubble acrylics on masonite, 66,6 x 100 cm, 2009 8 bottom Conqueror acrylics on panel, 44 x 36,5 cm, 2009 9 Auction acrylics on masonite, 60 x 60 cm, 2009
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Remco van den Bosch 11 Artistic and in substance principles Remco van den Bosch: Periodical fame by transformation As a plastic artist I work inside the discipline staged photography and new media. The leading motive is the concept of Andy Warholes 15 minutes of fame. I chose everyday people and transform them into stars. Out of this theme Stages for periodiacal fame, I already work for a several years with the potential need of lots of people to rise (only a short time) above the daily reality. With make-up, decors, light and specific atrributes I create the atmosphere and surrounding. In an intense, ruled by me, correlation with the model originate situations in which I can make the shots which I aim as my artistic target. The photographes are the fundamental idea for further operating. Involvement and engagement with people are the starting points to round off this process succesfully. However I don t dread to look for the limits of what is called nowadays social accepted. My pictures are called sensual, they have often an erotic load but pose, styling, illumination, atrributes and specific technics disorder this image. Through this originates the wanted stratifiedness and the question of the observer. What is going on? Frequently I work in a combination of model and organic death material, derived from the surrounding of the place where I live on the border of sea and land. The fact of the unlimited presense of this material creates the possibility to use unique style elements in the transformation. In another place this process will lead to new challenges. 10 Ludy 12 Perfect Beauty Series #3 13 Perfect Beauty Series #7
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Ronald Ceuppens 15 Ronald Ceuppens is a graphic artist that enjoys nature. He likes long walks, hiking in the mountains or simply exploring the city. The itineraries of his walks are found in his work, reduces to their abstract form. Using sketches, drawings and objects collected during his walks, Ronald makes the designs for his prints. Reproduced in a repetitive manner they give rise to serial work in which each work speaks individually. The reconstructions of images made up of such fragments is a way of preserving the memory of a place The artist manages to translate nostalgia for the past into a search for future pleasure. Ronald has won several prices and awards, both national and international. Ceuppens has exhibited widely and his work can be found in private collections in Europe, Australia and the US. Ronald Ceuppens creates an abstract world, filled with the sensitive melody of silence and serenity. 14 Un Jour mixed media, 16 x 26 16 Butterfly Girl mixed media, 12 x 26 17 top No Crying V mixed media, 15,5 x 15,5 17 bottom No Crying II mixed media, 15,5 x 15,5
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Angèle Etoundi Essamba 19 Angele Etoundi Essamba was born in Cameroon. She went to Paris at the age of ten, where she received her basic edication. She studied Philosophy and dance and was then trained in photography in Amsterdam. She now lives in Holland. Since her first exhibition, more then eleven years ago, many more have followed, both solo and selected group exhibitions in Europe, Africa and the United States. Through her excellence in photography Angele Etoundi Essamba gained international recognition with her special and personal visions on composition, contrast and design. Her work has been the subject of various publications, including a calendar and 2 previous photobooks. 18 Mains brodees 19 Mirroir du Monde 20 top Allure 3 20 bottom Burka 21 top Les Albatros 21 bottom Parure 2
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Farsad Labbauf 23 These works are done in configuration with my linear style of figurative painting. The formation of this method of pictorial depiction is an evolution from my belief that in order to truthfully describe any content, a painting must exist in a state of flux, as all events, objects, scenes, people, thoughts and ideas are constantly changing. To describe and depict something that was, is or will be carries the heavy and imposing predicament of time. And so in describing the world, I have found it necessary to create images that exist halfway between completion and dissolution. Another main and motivating factor in creating and developing the use of lines in my paintings was the unveiling of a desire for manifestation of unity. Following an urge against segmentation of the painting surface into isolated geographies of color and content, I set out to create a method of pictorial depiction which conveys this idea of unity regardless of content. Even though at first glance the subjects in my work seem isolated from their surroundings, upon closer inspection it is revealed that all areas of each painting are connected together by the underlying solid color of the background. The segmentation of both color and content is at once rejected by this shared geography. A playful attempt at monism, these works are an exploration of figurative painting with lines. Inspired in part by Persian calligraphy, these works echo the influence of my cultural heritage. In creating and developing this linear style of painting some of my continual inspirations have been weaving patterns of carpets, tile works and different kinds of puzzles. In these tapestries of color, lies the Persianness of my work; depicted in the manner each work is created, beyond the immediacy and particularity of content. Even though the sources of most of my subjects are external, my work is often an attempt for the union of the internal. 22 Joseph oil on canvas, 2007, 112 x 142 cm 24 Untitled Male oil and pencil on paper, 2005, 101 x 152 cm 25 Untitled Youth oil and pencil on paper, 2005, 101 x 152 cm
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Roos & Chris 27 The very realistic sculptures made by Roos and Chris are a parody on human behaviour. Their art is not only full of humor and in your face but also serious. They work as a duo on sculpture in duo s and a result of that they lift their work to a higher level. The theme is chemistry between people in general but they make us as observers look in a mirror and see the absurdity of our behaviour in the present time we are living in. We want to provoke a reaction or an emotion with our sculptures. We think it s important that our sculptures have an interaction with each other, because when there are two at steak, there is a reaction, interaction, chemistry. We make real life sculptures and they are a parody on human behaviour. Serious behaviour and irony are at close range, humor is in the journey but that s not the destination, it s the surprise element that makes you stand still for a moment and let you see yourself through the eyes of the sculptures. 26 top Angst und Tränen 40 x 60 x 50 cm 26 bottom Made in China neolith (resin), aluminium T-key, 90 x 45 x 55 cm 28 Halos and Horns fiberglass resin, 90 x 35 x 58 cm 29 The Swan ceramic, 65 x 65 x 75 cm
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Patricia Steur 31 Patricia Steur has been a successful independent photographer since 1980. In her career, tattoo and rock and roll play an important role. She has worked for many magazines photographing celebrities as well as shooting CD covers. Her photographic interests range from portraits of celebrities to tribal tattoos, from rock and roll to royalty. Her passion however is in photographing indigenous people with tribal tattoos. She was able to work on a special project in this genre thanks to an invitation by Maori tattoo artist Gordon Toi Hatfield who is based in New Zealand. This collaboration has produced five successful exhibitions in The Netherlands. An exceptional book Dedicated by Blood portraying the renaissance of traditional tattooing in New Zealand was the final result. People are my passion and black and white photography will always remain a very important facet of my work. Patricia Steur s photography is incisive and definitive. 30 Anouk Angel 32 top Kingi 32 bottom Jada 33 Henry Rollins Back cover Andy Warhol
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Loreta Visic 35 In her work Loreta Visic (1976) unites the extreme elements in her life in her very own way. She subtly points out the delicate balance and close link between the familiar and the strange. Generally we easily allow ourselves to believe that what we see is the only true reality. Loreta Visic shows us a glimpse of a different reality that lies beyond what we see. By juxtaposing contrasting elements she upsets our normal perception and sets off a whole chain of associations. In this way she brings the observer into a state of alienation. What first appeared to be so familiar and unambiguous now becomes highly ambivalent. In addition to this intellectual uprooting, Loreta Visic s work also unleashes various emotional reactions through the use of clichés and archetypes. Loreta Visic works in Roermond, The Nederlands. She graduated in 2001 at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp (HISK). She was awarded the price of La Jeune Peinture Belge- Langui in 2001. 34 Red Cloud 36 Lady in White 37 Crying Cloud
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art is passion, falling in love and confusing at times Petra Leene Graphic design Ellen Smit, www.lln-go.nl
At Amstel Gallery we believe that everybody needs art. Art is passion, art is falling in love and art is confusing at times. We strongly believe in the artists that we represent and want to share our passion for art with the rest of the world. www.amstelgallery.com info@amstelgallery.com