“Changes” - Exhibition Ger Doornink - 28 okt t/m 27 nov 2022

The artist Ger Doornink (1949) is a multidisciplinary talent, specialized in painting, illustration and photography. He studied Publicity at the Art Academy in Arnhem and started his career in the fashion and advertising world. Doornink's photos graced the covers of the Avant Garde and Italian fashion magazines, among others.

Monumental

“For my work I portrayed a friend. This photo of her face then hung magnified six meters in a department store. I didn't know what I was going through when I saw that, the impact was so great. That was the turning point for me, now I am totally addicted to heads.”

During his years in Tokyo, Doornink was influenced by the "Japanese style", which he uses in his designs from this period. When Doornink saw a woman with both American and Japanese physiognomy in front of his camera in Tokyo, he didn't know what he was experiencing. Where east and west met in the model's face, the artist came home.

_{Ger Doornink at work in his studio}

Nowadays Doornink creates monumental paintings of female beauty. The portraits of one and a half by two meters are not so large for nothing. Ger Doornink: “When a painting is above one hundred and twenty-five centimetres, the heads take on a monumental appearance. As a result, the face is larger than the majority of our bodies, and that gives a special experience.”

Rembrandt

When he returned to Europe, he first settled in Milan to be inspired by the Italian masters. Back in the Netherlands he found inspiration in the Dutch masters. Greats such as Rembrandt serve as a source of inspiration. “I live almost next door to the Rijksmuseum. If I no longer know how to proceed with a painting, I walk in there for a while, stand in front of a Rembrandt and then I can move forward for another two months. The old Dutch painter is the starting point for all my paintings. I have great awe of him. He was genius at that time in creating light and dark in his works. His technique is truly masterful.”

_{The artist Ger Doornink and his materials}

Technique, style and features

Doornink is constantly researching his own skills and technique. He works with layer upon layer of charcoal, acrylic, oil and resin. The use of Japonism and Cloisonnism is also present in his work. Note the flat areas with no perspective and the frame that separates the subject from the background. Two prominent features of his painting.

The graphic white or black line, a common feature in his work, gives an abstract backlight and enhances his cloisonnistic style. In addition, the portraits are linked to cultural characteristics by depicting clothing or headgear with historical resemblance.
The portrayed women look serenely at their viewers and fix their beautiful gaze.

Powerful streaks, smudges and blotches punctuate the beautifully stylized faces. These additions make the subjects strong, graceful or vulnerable women and give Ger Doornink's large, imposing and aesthetic paintings a modern look. In addition to the large format portraits, this exhibition also shows large format abstract paintings.

_{A large contemporary abstract work by Ger Doornink} 

Gallery Villa del Arte

“Changes”  is an exhibition of the Dutch contemporary artist Ger Doornink held by gallery Villa del Arte. 

The artworks of large, medium and small format are displayed in the beautiful spaces of the Villa del Arte gallery in the Spiegelkwartier in Amsterdam, within walking distance of the Rijksmuseum.

 _{Finished paintings in the studio of Ger Doornink}