AXEL VERSTEEGH

Born 1989

"I use drawing as a contrast to my painting. By adding drawing to the painting, a different dynamic is created in my work, and a break appears in the rhythm of the painted surface.

I attach the oil stick to a telescopic handle – the type you would usually use to paint walls and ceilings – which provides a distance. It's a little over two metres long, so you lose the precise control over the oil stick and get the chance to achieve a more interesting result."

Master's degree 2018, Royal Institute of Art

Erik Gustafsson Den Tänkande Handen teckning utställning

AXEL VERSTEEGH

Axel Versteegh participates in the scholarship competition and exhibition with seven drawings created 2023.

Oil on canvas.

1. Hearts 1
2. Hearts 2
3. Hearts 3
4. Hearts 5
5. Hearts 6
6. Hearts 7
7. Hearts 8


Click on the artworks in the slideshow to see full images, or scroll down. It can take a little while for the images to upload. Enlarge the drawings by choosing zoom or full page via the tool box by each image.

THE SELECTION COMMITTEE'S MOTIVATION:
Axel Versteegh's abstract compositions strike us like love bombs. The heart comes back, sometimes dark, filled, like a gingerbread heart, sometimes as light as a line, tempting but empty. The colours are bright, almost fluorescent. The hatchings are wild, physical, intentionally inaccurate, and disconnected from the compelling precision of the hand. Unbridled. This is painting and drawing combined as one; a physical performance, not limited by thought or hand. Liberated.

Hearts 1
Oil on canvas, 2023. Original size 140 x 130 cm.
Hearts 2
Oil on canvas, 2023. Original size 135 x 130 cm.
Hearts 3
Oil on canvas, 2023. Original size 164 x 165 cm.
Hearts 5
Oil on canvas, 2023. Original size 170 x 200 cm.
Hearts 6
Oil on canvas, 2023. Original size 120 x 160 cm.
Hearts 7
Oil on canvas, 2023. Original size 160 x 213 cm.
Hearts 8
Oil on canvas, 2023. Original size 170 x 200 cm.