In his sixth solo exhibition at Zeno X Gallery, Kees Goudzwaard (b. 1958, Utrecht) presents a series of new paintings on canvas and cardboard.

Goudzwaard approaches each work as a space in which a collection of loose elements are brought together. These building blocks are essentially of little significance, but by bringing them together in a composition, the whole becomes precious. A visual game emerges in which colour, image structure and surface are weighed against each other. It is this 'weighing' that adds value to the image.

Goudzwaard's creative process remains unchanged. A number of laws underpin his practice and form a necessary demarcation within which he can experiment. Each work starts with a preliminary study, which he carefully builds up with coloured paper, transparencies and tape. He sets to work intuitively: he selects, positions and rearranges the individual fragments, again and again, until the composition achieves the right balance. He then converts this model to another material on exactly the same scale: oil on canvas or acrylic on cardboard.

The model and the painting are inextricably connected. The temporary model is captured in a permanent image; the copy becomes the original when, over time, the model is destroyed or falls apart. This duality is characteristic of Goudzwaard's work. His paintings are both abstract, two-dimensional colour planes and hyper-realistic representations of a three-dimensional reality.

The artist wants to give shape to space and the possibilities of association as clearly as possible, so that they find their way naturally to the viewer. Anecdotalism plays no role; perception and the act of looking in itself grant access to each work. The title can help in this regard and often refers to an aspect of looking or to the composition of the work. Ultimately, however, it is up to the viewer, who is invited to observe carefully, to absorb the image and create his or her own visual game.

Kees Goudzwaard lives and works in Antwerp and Reusel. He had a solo exhibition at Collectie de Groen in Arnhem earlier this year and is currently working on two solo exhibitions to be held in 2024 at Nunu Fine Art in New York and Taipei. Previously, Goudzwaard had solo exhibitions at venues such as Club Solo in Breda, Villa Croce, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea in Genoa, De Kabinetten van De Vleeshal in Middelburg, Stedelijk Museum in Schiedam, MMK Arnhem, Culturgest in Lisbon and S.M.A.K. in Ghent. His work is part of the permanent collections of S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf, Mu.ZEE in Ostend and the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, among others.

Press release courtesy Zeno X Gallery.