opc_loader

Menu

Belgische schilder Jef Van Grieken

Van Grieken Jef

Jef Van Grieken is a Belgian artist who was born in 1950 in Herenthout. He is a painter, draftsman, crayon painter and graphic artist. Education at the Academy in Antwerp (1967-1969), etching at the Academy in Mechelen (1969-1973), free graphics at the Higher Institute in Antwerp (1973-1976). Study trips to Yugoslavia (1976), Brazil (1983), the Far East (1988), Patagonia and Mexico (1988/1989), Columbia and Venezuela (1992). First prize Young Belgian Engraving in 1978, first prize for drawing Belgica 150 in 1979, first prize for drawing and honorary metal by the municipality of Kortenberg in 1980, laureate of the Biennale for Drawing in Nürnberg/Germany in 1982. Found the themes for his drawings initially in the sphere of deterioration but his trip to Brazil changed that. His oeuvre is characterized by precise realism, which, however, acquires a magical dimension, a subversive character, by the contrast between the refined forms and the soft colors within the theme. From the beginning, symbols of death and life play an important role. Transience always prevails, such as with representations of withered branches, castle ruins, dilapidated mining installations (series Bois-le-Duc), and in the series Boom pans, the dilapidated drying huts of the brickworks. Traveled through many countries and continents and was always attracted by the cultural individuality of the people and the local architectural wealth. From the press: “In his paintings and washed pastels he comes to his own form of new figuration. You can call it your own enclave, between hyperrealism (without coldness) and magical realism (without alienation)” (R.T.) and “As an observer, J.V.G. grim down to the last detail. At the same time, he builds mildness and a warning for the disappearance of precious things, over which he puts a mantle of refined and colorful pastel.” (W.P.) Was a teacher at the Academy in Leuven from 1973 to 1976, from 1976 at the Academy in Mechelen. Works exhibited in the Museums in Antwerp and Charleroi, in the collections of the National Bank of Belgium, the General Banking Company, the Municipal Credit, the Belgian State, the Embassy in Luxembourg, the Print Room in Brussels, the Royal Court in Laeken, the Koniong Boudewijn Foundation , the Bank of Paris and the Netherlands in Antwerp, the European Parliament, the Special Office Abdulaziz Alsaud in Riad/Arabia, the city of Biella, the Yugoslav State, the International Ex Libris Center in Sint-Niklaas. Mentioned in Artists and Galleries 1997, BAS I and Two Centuries Signatures of Belgian Artists. (PIRON)