Room
RIS ID
62932
Abstract
Gallery 9 proudly presents ROOM, a series of paintings produced by Jelle van den Berg in and about his studios between 2006 and 2012.
In his introductory text about the series, Jelle talks about his space as though it were occupied by another person, Juan, in fact the artist’s creative alter ego whom he employs to stand back and ponder his personal ideas in the third person. “There’s not enough room so to speak…” he begins, “in Juan’s (one’s) room stuff piles up…” and despite his desire to part with things, he is unable to discard his vast collection of bric-a-brac and mementos of a life of collecting the subjects of still life. And so what better to do about the situation than to set about painting every object into a still life, and at least allow their presence to be (somewhat) immortalised as it was briefly in the space.
The ROOM series of oil paintings are what evolved from arranging the artists’ studios and translating them, via water colour, eventually into paint. The subjects are ordinary tables, palettes, windows and books but each painting represents a profound connection made by the artist with each object’s mystery and ascribed personality.
Publication Details
Van Den Berg, J. G.. Room. Gallery 9, Darlinghurst, NSW. 15 August to 8 September. Sydney: Solo exhibition at Gallery 9, 2012.