Minimalism and After
February 2002
New acquisitions
Douwe Jan Bakker
Greg Bogin
Andre Cadere
Gerold Miller
John Nixon
Jan van der Ploeg
Eckhard Schene
Martin Gerwers
b.1963 in Velen/DUntitled, November
1998; Oil on canvas, 228 x 217 cm, signed and dated on the backMartin Gerwers refuses to see himself as a geometric painter. For him, geometry is neither an end in itself nor the subject of the painting. He uses geometry as a tool with which he shapes the diversity of move-ments the picture offers us. The painting has an effect similar to that of an architectural field which con-fronts the beholder and within which the composition with its dark and light color shades arranges or sorts open or empty spaces in every section of the picture. A characteristic feature is an almost intimate relationship between architecture and painting, synthesized through the approach to human proportions and perception.
"An important aspect for me is the correlation between traditional painting on canvas and mural painting which is designed for a specific architectural space, revolving time and again around abun-dance and emptiness, as well as the confrontation of the beholder with this fundamental emotion. We can hardly remember what we have seen. We are taught scientific, epistemological paradigms, but when thoughts or emotions permit fundamental conclusions, these would be drawn in our subconscious without occupying a place - like a kind of indescribable energy that volatilizes slowly. I want to create paintings in order to lend expression and form to this condition." (Martin Gewers, 2001)
Untitled, April
1999; Oil on canvas, 186 x 196 cm, signed and dated on the back
Guided tours on Wednesdays, 6 p.m., groups book by telephone