15 april 2022, Flor Linckens
Nature and the city through the eyes of two young artists
Until 30 April, TORCH Gallery in Amsterdam is showing two exhibitions: 'Velvet Forest' by Krijn Kroes in the front space and 'Ah, but remember that the city is a funny place' by Mees van Rijckevorsel in the back space. It is the first time that the work of these two young artists is shown in the gallery.
Krijn Kroes, Through II, 2022, TORCH Gallery
Before graduating in Visual Arts at the HKU, Krijn Kroes studied Nature and Design and gained experience in the flower and plant sector. When you look at his work, that shouldn't really surprise you. Thematically, his practice is strongly influenced by his youth, because he grew up right in the middle of the natural area of the Veluwe. The artist has a strong fascination for the night and the influence that light can have on our emotions. How do our eyes translate small amounts of light in the dark? If you were to explore nature at night, your eyes would initially see nothing. But after a few seconds your eyes would adjust and you'd notice how even small shades of light become visible. This also applies to the paintings of Kroes. Even in his completely black paintings, the reflective shine of the oil paint captures the light, revealing the patterns of the paint. The artist deliberately plays with that: sometimes the viewer can observe semi-abstract wave movements, other times a more concrete field of flowers with a number of trees in the background. In other works, the nocturnal colours are less true to nature; his green works almost look like vistas through infrared night goggles. The artist invites you to look at his works with emotion and fantasy.
Kroes: “My work is both a matter of what happens on the surface as well as what lies beneath. In my paintings and sculptures, an investigation into the effect of light is central.”
Mees van Rijckevorsel, Cone arch, 2022, TORCH Gallery
Mees van Rijckevorsel, whose work can be seen in the backspace of the gallery, also obtained a somewhat surprising degree. He studied landscape architecture at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, followed by a postdoc at the Academy of Architecture. Where Kroes focuses on nature, Van Rijckevorsel turns his gaze to whimsical visual elements in the city, which he subsequently abstracts to a greater or lesser extent. From cheerful orange security cones against a contrasting green background to Monstera leaves that cheekily peep through the blinds. And in the hands of the artist, those old, instantly recognisable toilet locks turn into smileys that could be seen as an ode to Magritte's work. In addition to being an artist, Van Rijckevorsel is also a skater, which means that he regularly explores the more industrial parts of the city of Amsterdam. Considering his background in architecture, he is interested in the tension between original urban plans and the concrete implementation and reality of it, and he loves imperfections and small expressions of civil disobedience.
Mees van Rijckevorsel, Smiley (untitled), 2021, TORCH Gallery
