World Fine Art Professionals and their Key-Pieces, 253 - Peter Meeuwisse
World Fine Art Professionals and their Key-Pieces, 253 - Peter Meeuwisse
No fewer than 30 moon paintings were on display in the ‘Follow the Moon’ exhibition, recently in the MLB Gallery. Many full moons and also various metamorphoses of the moon.
He received many and good reactions, Peter Meeuwisse tells me a few weeks later in the cafe of the library of De Hallen, a little further. “I had been working with monoprint a long time ago. I continued on to this years later, under the motto ‘an order, in which there is room for chaos’, from a poem by Vasalis. You must have order, but outside of that you can do anything. "
The path
For the exhibition ‘Follow the Moon’, he started from the order of all his work, with particular reference to what was on display in his studio. “Although everything is in harmony there, it is not static, there is constant change. That is related to the theme of my work that I call ‘The Path’. "
The path is the way through life. “I fill that in with objects and figures, usually male. The path does not have to go straight ahead. It can also take a turn to the left, to the right, and even turn back to old things. What do I see? What happens? I let my imagination go. Then the ideas come naturally. I also see things in the studio that I can use, when I run or walk I sometimes see beautiful forms and I also get subjects from books, magazines and social media. ”
Ovid
‘The path’, the path through life is therefore such a good theme because it keeps him sharp. “It gives me the opportunity to continue to develop. I can go back to the past and do new things." In this exhibition the objects were placed against a strange and mostly dark background. He paints with acrylic paint. “Sometimes I make collages, where I cut and paste. It also happens that I re-edit old works. ”
He does not have a specific key work, he says. “I have more key works. Ovid's metamorphoses have inspired me, also with the moon paintings. There was a painting on the exhibition ‘Metamorphosis in the moonlight’.
The moon
How did he end up at the moon? “I paint once every four / five weeks with a group of fellow artists in Noordwijk with Marijke Bannink. I was about to paint a still life, but in front of me was a saucer of a cup of coffee. ‘A round shape’, I thought, ‘could be a moon’. It was full moon that weekend and my energy was flowing. I painted throughout the weekend. Later, I always found inspiration at full moon.”
Peter Meeuwisse comes from an artistic family in which everyone was involved with art in one way or another. “My father and brothers also drew and painted. I'm the one who really pushed it through." In secondary school, the HAVO in Alkmaar, the drawing teacher taught very well. “He took our class to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. There I saw, among other things, the work of Tinguely. He also gave fun and surprising drawing assignments. ‘Draw a table with food that an elephant has walked on’ for example, or ‘draw the laundry in the wind’."
He did the Free Academy Kennemerland in Haarlem and then the Academy for Visual Education in Amsterdam where he graduated with the thesis ‘The way / the path’ based on Taoist philosophy. “At the Academy, but also later with a group of fellow artists, we worked a lot together, we assessed each other's work and went to exhibitions together. There was a lot of mutual inspiration.” In 1998 he had his first exhibition with collage art in Haarlem.
Vermeer project
Peter Meeuwisse is an enthusiastic museum visitor. “Painters that inspire me include Giacometti, Matisse and Vermeer. I have a personal Vermeer project: I want to see all Vermeers in real life. A total of 36 works are attributed to Vermeer, so it can be done. I have already been to Germany and Paris, I still have to go to America. A Vermeer is owned by the British Royal Family and hangs in one of their large palaces. I sent an email to see if I could come and see that painting. ‘Come and visit’ was the answer, ‘it can be seen in the summer opening’. I did that then. "
Finally, what is his philosophy? “Everything in perfect harmony, without a static condition. Because everything is constantly changing. That really appeals to me."
Images
1) Model and moon II 20x29 cm acrylic and collage on paper, 2) Metamorphosis man in moonlight 60x80cm acrylic and needlework on canvas, 3) Moon expression 48x64cm acrylic on paper, 4) Moon in chaos II 50x60cm acrylic and collage on cotton (2), 5) Moon in chaos II 50x60cm acrylic and collage on cotton, 6) Moon in chaos 50x60cm acrylic and collage on cotton, 7) Moon in monoprint II 60x80 cm acrylic on black paper, 8) Moon in monoprint 60x80 cm acrylic on black paper, 9) Peter Meeuwisse, 10) Abstraction and moon 21x29 cm mixed media , 11) Destructed figure and moon III 24x29cm acrylic on paper, 12) Destructed figure and moon 24x29 cm acrylic on paper, 13 - 14) collage
