"Having a singular body of work is passé, it's more important to be an interesting artist." Jason Middlebrook
As a painter I have explored many different artistic domains and I follow the roads that my talent selects for me. Over the years it has become clear that my different styles lie in a spectrum of possibilities, varying from pure realism, via pure symbolism and surrealism to almost pure abstraction.
The styles are for me associated with different modes of being. I travel from one style to another as my moods guide me. It is like living in different houses. There is a house of 'business as usual' and there is a house of dreams, there is a house of silence, a place to meditate and there is a house of pure line and color, where I dwell in state of Dionysian euphoria. Sometimes I live in one house for a couple of years, sometimes I shift from day to day, but they are all equally dear to me.
The picture plane above gives an idea of this pictorial space. I got the idea from Scott McCloud. My colleague at the university of Amsterdam, Dick Swaab, thinks the styles have to do with different modes of the brain, but that is more relevant for science than for art. It is what it is. Enjoy...
Ever since the training in realistic drawing and painting was abandoned in artschools about 40 years ago a tradition of reflection on realistic painting and its techniques, that had its roots in the Renaissance, has almost come to a stand still. Over the years I have spent a large part of my time trying to understand the relation between representation and reality. As a painter I have done hundreds of experiments investigating the way our brains process visual information. I have discovered many things, some ancient but forgotten, others completely new and based on recent insights in mathematics, neuroscience, biology or compluter science.
The two basic rules of Cognitive realism are:
A painting is a program for the visual machine in our brain.
Our visual system compresses and expands information, therefore the painter can leave information out.
Our brain is a semantic machine that constantly looks for new meanings in images. It is the task of the painter to explore this semantic visual space. In this sense, painting is still at its infancy.
Painting » Lessons (English)
Drawing and painting are forms of art where you never stop learning.
Al vanaf de oprichting geef ik een paar keer per jaar Masterclasses op de Foudgemse School (De kleinste en meest noordelijkste academie academie voor de nieuwe schilderkunst). De Covid Crisis dwingt ons die lessen nu on-line te geven. Op deze pagina zal ik les materiaal en achtergrond materiaal toegankelijk maken.
Alvast een voorproefje
Peter Van Houten en Pieter Adriaans bespreken het boek Schilderen voor het brein.
Lectures and presentations
Video's
Lectures, interviews, presentations (some in Dutch)
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