Zonder titel, 1996

With these works, Joris Geurts (1958, the Netherlands) engages with nature, combining colorful abstractions of its splendor with compositional references to the knots of a tree and the growth rings radiating from its core. The structure of wood is a recurrent theme in many of Geurts’ paintings from this period, and testifies to his experiments with woodprints on paper where attention focuses on the technique of transferring the shape and grain of the wood to the carrier. Working from a restful base color, Geurts applies the topcoat in more vibrant tones, picking out shapes to create depth, structure and the semblance of a cross-section of a tree. The result: a harmonious play of color, light and texture. These paintings are Geurts’ poetic celebration of the beauty of nature whose common domain we share and shape.