Marc C. Slootjes

Applying oils with his fingers, self-taught Dutch artist Marc C. Slootjes has developed a stylized, Expressionist aesthetic whose symbolic forms recall late Miró, while their textures and paint build-up evoke Van Gogh. The resulting works introduce viewers to Slootjes’ imaginary pictorial universe – dubbed Thohhworld – wherein nudes are reduced to an elemental play of signs and faces disassembled then reworked into enigmatic, fluid physiognomies. The paintings are highly detailed, but maintain a universal applicability, emerging from bold lines, high contrast colors and a lattice-like structure of finger strokes.

As if magically, Slootjes channels his strong aesthetic into nuanced characterizations. His subjects resemble comedians caught in a tragic scenario, or vice-versa. He crafts textures of loss and sadness into his colorful hues and playful forms, fostering the sense that something irrevocably sad or depressed lurks therein. This meshing of complex psychologies and pleasurably minimalist icons gives Slootjes’ work a quiet power to surprise and to catch the viewer off guard with an unanswerable question or loaded proposition.