Alfred Degens, Amsterdam 1959
I am particularly attracted to the idea of creating worlds which exists only in the mind. What draws me into Pop-Art (introduced in the 1960’s by artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol) is the strength of commonly well-known pictures, which get a new meaning when they are enlarged, isolated or combined with the freedom to bring graphic and naturalistic elements together. The canvasses are realistic, layered works, which show human failing with necessary humour. They are meetings between history and present, from religion to science fiction and every other delusions of the day, in an attempt to overcome our mortality. As a result, this strong association with Pop Art combined with elements of the Classics, and with the more traditional painting methods, are frequently seen in my paintings. The paintings are consciously stuck in their two dimensionality, the flatness of the existence raised to a philosophy.
Education: Royal Academy The Hague,
