Leon Adriaans

Starting in the ‘70s, at a time art theorists had once again declared painting to be passé, Leon Adriaans (1944–2004, the Netherlands), painted himself—the painter watching himself paint. Again and again we see the artist painting his canvas away with a broom or brush, or painting light itself. Existential and universal subjects were what Adriaans considered important, the fountain of life itself, the untraveled territories of the soul, the quest for deeper understanding. This quest is voiced through colorful and direct work, powerfully addressing matters of euphoria, comfort and forgiveness, the fires of creation and artistic hell. The art of Leon Adriaans is a gripping expression of all that life and nature contain.