Florens Kool
A parking sign next to an electrical box. Cartons of Double Drink in a cardboard box. Florens Kool (1988) has a preference for subjects that radiate a careless everydayness. In his paintings, in varying genres and subjects, he captures what passes our attention in all its triviality. He hopes to evoke a concentrated look through the care with which I portray seemingly meaningless details.
For his paintings, Kool draws from a growing archive of photographs that he takes himself. Sometimes, they are details that he comes across in passing. Sometimes, he specifically goes out into the street, looking for images that match what he is doing at that moment. He composes his paintings based on this visual material. Through painterly techniques such as light, color, the organization of the image, and the rhythm of the lines, he searches for a balance between underlying abstraction and realism.
The illusion of material expression plays a vital role in Kool's paintings. As you look, you can almost feel the roughness of bricks or the smooth metal of a shiny drainpipe. Kool explores this fascination even more deeply in a series of trompe l'oeil paintings. Here, he tries to see how he can imitate other materials with the specific properties of his paint, such as matte or glossy, smooth or pasty. The physical texture in the painting and the illusion of texture or depth collide.