Gerard Veldman Dutch

Gerard Veldman gradauted from Minerva Academy in Groningen. 

"I call myself a “Part-time painter”. But I am also a lecturer in Conceptual Development at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. I also work part-time there for the Creative Business program. There I teach subjects such as Art Direction and Conceptual Development. I do this with great pleasure, just as I get great pleasure from painting. I have a strong “urge” to express myself creatively and to translate my ideas into catchy images.

For my paintings, the whole world and in particular the world of “visual culture” is my source of inspiration. I am open to stimuli and absorb them like a sponge. I allow myself to be influenced by photography, films, art, music, architecture, comics, games and the media. It intrigues me to place recognizable figurative images with paint in a different context, which generates questions. These questions are often about codes. We have agreed with each other what is “normal”. Images that deviate from certain codes stand out. I do this not only so that it is seen, but also to play with ingrained expectations, both figuratively and in terms of content. I try to encourage thinking with my images and perhaps develop a different (read: better, more nuanced) point of view. Because my images sometimes have to be coarse in structure and then refined again, paint is the best material for me. I can often be found in my studio in the Egelantier in Haarlem."