As an extra to the more than a week of the PAN art and antiques fair, there is still a few weeks of opportunity to enjoy the presentation in the gallery. Not only are there still specific works by the three presented artists on display, but the dark winter days can also shed light on the mysteries of those arts. The expressions of painting and photography sometimes surprisingly overlap. As techniques advance, our perception is increasingly put to the test. We are no longer surprised by paintings on photographs. And a photo print sometimes looks like the work of a fine painter. In addition, painting still has a lot of energy. All of this brings about a pleasant feeling of (re)cognition.
Photographer Andrés Gallego (ES 1983) is fascinated by the work of 20th-century American painter Edward Hopper, who found support in the spatial structures he photographed. Gallego's 'Hopper Essence' series is a series of photographs in which the views from the windows have been transferred to canvas by the artist himself with acrylic paint, as well as the scenography, which is reproduced to scale. All the characters show an introverted atmosphere of tranquillity. This interpretation of Hopper's painting makes you hesitate about what you see. The refined lighting of the set and models creates a magical effect.
In contrast, Vincent van Gaalen (NL 1984) travels through Europe to photograph the darkest places. He determines them using online available maps and travels there using GPS technology. There is certainly no light pollution there and only the light of the full moon is available. In the midst of this darkness – surrounded by nothing more than his photo equipment, a tent and some rations – Van Gaalen photographs our human absence. Leaves, stones, water and air catch the light of the moon and stars. He is interested in the purely sensory impression of these landscapes. These desolate scenes, depicted in countless shades of white, grey and black, evoke paintings from the Romantic period.
Bas Wiegmink (NL 1977) defies the current digital and interdisciplinary fashions in his own challenges with paint on canvas. His inspirations from nature and architecture seem limitless, everything is possible in these paintings. Nature seemingly gets the power to evolve, vegetation looms up from all directions. The sky reflects in fantastic colours, the earth radiates. Wiegmink paints with many contrasts in an exuberant romantic colour palette, sometimes even fluorescent. Trees and plants grow wildly between man-made structures, the exuberant flora takes up all the space. The cinematic and dreamy way of painting continues to fascinate.