Gé-Karel van der Sterren
Figurative art is much more confronting and direct. That geometric-abstract art has done its job and gained some prestige, but now we have to forge ahead. I really can’t imagine abstract art still being any fun. What’s the point if it’s no longer exciting and interesting, for me as well as for others.
Gé-Karel van der Sterren via gemeentemuseumhelmond.nl, 2013
Gé-Karel van der Sterren (1969, the Netherlands) works his own life story, the everyday environment and pop culture into his paintings. Van der Sterren is known for bright colors and painting with the impasto technique, in an almost sculptural manner. He usually begins by painting the support medium with thinned down acrylics, after which he builds the rest of the painting in thick layers of oil paint. Striking images are the result: a burning gas station, a weathercock, a hefty, creamy cake or a feast of floral exuberance, confronting the viewer with the dangers of today’s post-industrial society, while indulging in an extravagant style with his use of paint and color, his reworking of images, and a dash of (gallows) humor.
