- Biography
Heddy-John Appeldoorn (1975) paints an inside world in which fable animals, roaring monsters and birds tell about the dark side of the human being. His beautiful, bright colours in transparent layers of oil paint are in contrast with these bleak themes. The paintings of Appeldoorn balance between figuration and abstraction, between consciousness and unconsciousness. With these factors, the paintings come very close to the feeling of a dream.
Titels like ‘The beast that eats souls’ or ‘Black Rapunzel’ make that feeling even stronger and make us think of Scandinavian and Russian fairytales, which are an important inspiration for this artist. The universal themes within these fairytales fascinate him for the social topicality as well as personal experiences. Some paintings seem a headstrong abstraction of the work of Henri Rousseau, but also Ensor and Goya have influenced him. In his use of colours he feel related to the artist of Les Fauves and Der Blaue Reiter.
Appeldoorn starts a painting from a theme of story, but during painting he is willing to give space to coincidences. With every theme he looks for the right form and composition. His archetypal primal animals (‘Fenrir’, ‘Blue Hunter’, ‘The beast that eats souls’) have a dynamic centrifugal stature, often with a beak spread wide open, that radiates an enormous power. Appeldoorn uses mostly birds for his paintings, in all sorts and colours. They are a symbol for freedom, butt yet they rarely fly.
- News
- 23-01-12RE:Rotterdam
- Curriculum Vitae
Heddy-John Appeldoorn, 1-9-1975, Elst, Netherlands
Education
AKI, Enschede, NL, 1998-2002
University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2002, exchange project painting
Residence
Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten/Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture
and Science, 2006-2007
Fellowships/stipends
2009 Fonds BKVB, Amsterdam, N , Basic grant (2009/2010)
2007 Fundatie van den Santheuvel/Breitner Fonds, NL
2006 Stichting Dr. Hendrik Muller’s Vaderlandsch Fonds, Den Haag, NL
2005 Fonds BKVB, Amsterdam, NL, practice grant
2004 Fonds BKVB, Amsterdam, NL, starter stipend
2002 Fonds BKVB, Amsterdam, NL, starter stipend (2002-2003)
Solo exhibitions
2008 Tanja Rumpff Galerie
(Selected) group exhibitions
2010 Groupexposition , Haarlem, NL , Tanja Rumpff galerie
2009 ‘ Berichten van over de grens,Haarlem, NL , Museum Het Dolhuys
2009 ‘ Nieuwe schilders’, Leiden, NL, Leids universitair medisch centrum,
2009 Rotterdam terminal l, NL, Tanja Rumpff
2009 Koninklijk Paleis, Amsterdam, NL, Koninklijke Prijs voor de vrije schilderkunst 2009 9(exh. Cat)
2008 Kunstrai, Amsterdam, NL,Tanja Rumpff galerie
2008 GEM, Museum voor actuele kunst, Den Haag Kon. Prijs expositie
2007 Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam,Nl, ‘Open ateliers’
2007 De vishal , Haarlem,NL , ‘Birdwatch’
2006 Parts, Xiamen City, CN, ‘Rijksakademie at Parts’
2006 Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, NL, ‘Open Ateliers’
2005 GEM, museum voor actuele kunst, Den Haag, NL, ‘Koninklijke Prijs voor Vrije Schilderkunst expositie 2005′, (exh. cat.)
2004 Kunstvlaai 5, Amsterdam, NL, ‘Uitgelicht 04′, organized by Fonds BKVB, Amsterdam
2004 Koninklijk Paleis, Amsterdam, NL, ‘Koninklijke Prijs voor Vrije Schilderkunst 2004′, (exh. cat.)
2003 Städtische Ausstellungshalle am Haverkamp, Münster, DE
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