Hein van Houten
Subjective Realities
April 18 - May 8, 2008
Reception:
Thursday April 24, 2008 6-8 PM
Press Release
The Dutch painter Hein used to give away his paintings to pay his bills after the company he worked for went bankrupt. This sense of impulsive survival skills in the midst of turmoil pervades his work--the quickness, the raw energy, the doing whatever it takes to keep above the chaos. There's no time for contemplation in Hein's work; the spontaneity of urban street art flings itself onto the canvas. His subject matter, the rough and tumble of nightlife, social injustice, sex, violence, are all displayed in a style that is a mix of graffiti, doodle and caricature. His figures are vivid bursts of color reined in by thin black or white lines, but the boundaries want to bleed, and his subjects are eager to convulse into exuberant bundles of line and color, as if halted in motion by a momentary burst of paint. Inspired both by the contemporary tools of spray paint and the action painting of Jackson Pollock, Hein composes his works with his canvas on the floor. He circles the work as it takes shape, his quick motions attempts to bypass censoring thoughts, to let the body do the work without the mind interfering.
Like action painting, Hein's works are defined as much by their colors and composition as they are by the fleeting time in which they are created. He forces urban expression and gallery art together with humor, passion, and a demand for respect.
Invitation to the exhibition
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View the catalog page
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Artists in this exhibition
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