Jan Hendriks

http://www.janhendriks46.nl

(When some works are not for sale, that is only temporarely, because they are out for an exhibition!)

I work with simple forms (squares, lines) and materials (paper, art board, wood, mdf, foam board) in simple rhythmic compositions. Everything that is not important or redundant, can be left out. Simple also means: no colour, white.

I prefer to work in a language of minimal elements: a repetition of the same element, sometimes with little shifts or distortions. Sometimes there are more elements, that amplify each other but not confuse and, in that way, form a new element. The handwriting that takes shape during the process, just exists and can be there.

It is a continuing investigation of what is possible with these minimal means and their shape properties.
With these minimal elements endless structures take shape, with no accents, no main issues, no side issues. I show a strong image of emptiness, of peace and silence, of reflection and contemplation, in a meditative atmosphere.

My work does not point to existing realities, nor is it a picture of that reality. There are no statements, no meanings, symbols or messages. My work does not pretend to be more that itself: a composition of forms. That is why my work matches best with definitions,  that are being used defining Concrete Art.

(the following text by Wim de Natris, Gallery de Natris, Nijmegen, Netherlands)

Jan Hendriks (Tilburg 1946) has been educated as an artist at the Academy of Fine Arts Tilburg (now: Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten) and at Academie Beeldende Vorming, Amsterdam (since 2015 Breitner Academy). He lives and works in Landsmeer, near Amsterdam.

The term "concrete art" often refers to the work of Jan Hendriks. The expression was launched in 1930 by Theo van Doesburg, one of the founders of De Stijl in 1917. Van Doesburg saw a substantial distinction between someone's abstract art such as Kandinsky, which was intuitive and emotional and the abstract art as he sought. A way of expressing, which he called Concrete Art. Concrete Art was also abstract, but based on rational basis. Universal art that should be comprehensible to all.

Hendriks does not like that kind of markings. 'I work with simple shapes and materials, cardboard, paper, wood, mdf, foam board, in simple rhythmic compositions ... ... Simple means a straight line, simpler than a plane, a square, simpler than a rectangle. Everything that is unnecessary may be gone. Simple also means white.

The artist constantly reviews what you can do with this the minimal image language. Repeating geometric elements in white, you can create a wide range of solutions. Jan Hendriks shows that the possibilities have not been exhausted. New steps for the artist in areas not yet fully developed. Not only for the eye, but for the spirit too. Hendriks seems to study the effect of releasing the calibrated frame, the classic 'window' of the painting. This has happened to the painters of the 'shaped canvas' in the sixties, with the separation of classical boundaries such as the rectangular, square or circular format, but not before experimenting with serial geometric elements. To the mind because an old question is asked here. Where does the presentation of a painting take place, where does the outside world start work?

And, is Jan Hendriks a painter? Yes, he paints but his works are essentially painted reliefs. He moves between the two- and three-dimensional. That 'two-track policy' puts the concrete work into discussion. Because how concrete, how rational is this artist's work actually? You wonder if Jan Hendriks's work is more intuitive and emotional rather than purely rational.

In short, Jan Hendriks calls with his work, which in his words does not suggest anything, many interesting questions. Good looking at his work is such an exciting visual and speculative experience.