EYE

Blick in die Welt hinter der Kunst

The light of the soul painted by Adriana van Zoest
ADRIANA VAN ZOEST / Aug 27th, 2017   
Adriana van Zoest belongs to a select company of masters among contemporary realistic painters. For over two decades, she knows to fascinate the art expert and enthusiast with her paintings of exceptionally high quality. Her perfect painting technique, based on those of the old masters, is highly appreciated both nationally and internationally and earlier this year, her work has been awarded with a great solo exhibition "Post Mortem" in the Drents Museum. With illustrious predecessors like Henk Helmantel, she joined the so-called 'stage of the immortals'.
A very appropriate title for Adriana van Zoest because it also expresses the essence of her paintings. Adriana has a great love for lifeless subjects that she gives eternal life in paint. This can be a bowl in one of her sublime still lifes, but also a deceased bird in one of her more intense and more intrusive portraits of dead animals. Matching to a painter of her calibre, the expression of the substance is unprecedented. The reflection in a bowl is palpable and the overwhelming color power and soft feathers of a dead bird are feasible.
Despite being lifeless, her subjects play gloriously the leading role. They stand directly and frontally in the picture and are placed on a pedestal by Adriana. This creates a dramatic effect that is further enhanced by the blurred, often dark, background that depicts the transition between life and death and ensures that the lifeless subject is the bright centerpiece. The light where it's all about eventually. A light that seems to shine from the inside and with which Adriana phenomenonally exposes the soul of an immortal subject, giving it a second life as it were.

 


Her paintings transcend the depiction of reality and give substance to thought. Especially the animal stil lifes call upon many spectators an intriguing confusion because the perception and feeling do not match. The overwhelming beauty with which the animals are painted feels uncomfortable because they are linked to death.
As a viewer, you are therefore evoked to redefine your views on beauty. The paintings of Adriana van Zoest do not derive their beauty and strength from their technical perfection and the appearance of the subject, but precisely by their soul. Therefore, they are entitled to the "stage of immortals" who will survive the tooth of time.

 
The exhibition ‘The light of the soul’ can be seen at gallery Wildevuur from September 1 until October 1, 2017. The festive opening will take place on Sunday 3th September, where Adriana van Zoest will give a personal reading about her work from 14 o'clock. You are most welcome!

The luxury review book 'A Portrait of Adriana van Zoest' exposes her works from the past 15 years and is available to order through our.website.
 
 

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