Painting

Pieter

My different styles

"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... 

Cognitive Realism: Painting for the Brain

The new book 'Schilderen voor het brein' (painting for the brain) is published. We are working on an English version.

Omslag Boek Schilderen voor het brein


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:

  1. A painting is a program for the visual machine in our brain.
  2. 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.

Filosoferen met de Kwast 

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. 

Projects under construction

Art Exhibitions and Presentations (a selection)

  • 2022 Expostion 'Todadores' , 18 February 2022 , Museu Francisco de Laçerda, Calheta, São Jorge. 
  • 2020  Group Exposition 5 x 7 x 2,5. Small work of the size of a matchbox. 
  • 2019 March, Solo Exhibition Faces of São Jorge, Museu Francisco de Laçerda, Calheta, São Jorge. 
  • 2019 January, Solo exhibition 'Aanmodderen' Lambooijhuis Hengelo. 
  • 2018 March, Solo Exposition O Mágico dos Açores,  Casa Manuel de Arriaga, Horta, Azores. 
  • 2016 January, february, Exposition 'Horozontes' Museu dos Baleeiros, Lajes, Montanha Festival, Pico. 
  • 2015 September, October, Solo Exhibition, Veldhoven Interieurs, Bilthoven
  • 2015 Start Painting classes in "Atelier de Kaasfabriek" Santo Antonio, São Jorge 
  • 2015 August, presentairton Viola da Terra, at the Azores Fringe Festival,  Madelena, Pico (with Raimundo Leonardes and Renato Bettencourt) 
  • 2015 July, Opening Permanant exhibition in "Atelier de Kaasfabriek" Santo Antonio, São Jorge 
  • 2015 July, Esbocos da Ilha, Solo exhibition, Auditório Municipal e Centro Cultural das Velas, São Jorge
  • 2014 Solo exhibition, 50 Jaar inspiratie, in De Blauwe Meije. Zegveld
  • 2014 September 27, Vechtstreek Symfonie Orkest
  • 2014 July, Nossa Cultura vista da fora, Solo exhibition, Auditório Municipal e Centro Cultural das Velas, São Jorge
  • 2014 June, Exhibition at Carré d'Artistes, Den Haag
  • 2014 May, Exhibition, Kunst in Kockengen, Kockengen
  • 2013 Solo Exhibition Beauforthuis Zeist (Vernissage February 24)
  • 2012 Release Songs from an island CD 
  • 2012 Duo exhibition Galerie Peter Leen
  • 2011 Solo exhibition "De blauwe Meije"
    2011 Inauguration two large paintings Bijlmer Police Station Amsterdam
  • 2010 Release Blues op klompen CD
    2009 Solo Exhibition Werelds Gallery, Rotterdam
  • 2009 Solo Exhibition Auditório Municipal e Centro Cultural das Velas, São Jorge
  • 2009 Solo Exhibition Adriaans Gallery Kockengen
  • 2007 Paradiso public lecture, The work of art as a number
  • 2007 Impetus public lecture
  • 2006 Solo Overview Exhibition Amersfoort 40 years of painting
  • 2001 Digital Exposure: Installation Remembrance machine
  • 1999 Kwintessens, television program, Learning systems
  • 1998 Release of the Pacer CD
  • 1997 Performance Cyberslag Groningen, ICT Composer Tool
  • 1996 Performance SJU Jazz Podium, ICT Composer Tool
  • 1987 Solo exhibition Romko Gallery Breukelen
  • 1987 Group Exhibition Hofpoort Ziekenhuis Woerden
  • 1977 Solo exhibition Pelikaanhof Leiden

Pieter in Action: Painting and Drawing