Adriana van Zoest

After her impressive exhibition'Post Mortem' in the Drents Museum, Adriana van Zoest presents her latest paintings with still life and animal portraits that derive their beauty from their wonderful appearance and exceptional technical perfection. The power of her paintings, however, is located in the animation with which they are painted. Her works transcend the view of reality and give substance to thought. Adriana van Zoest knows how to make "the light shining from within" visible for us and thus to reveal the soul of her subjects.

Adriana van Zoest (1966) belongs to the absolute top of contemporary realist painters. With her still lifes, she distinguishes herself by forming a bridge between the traditional and the modern. She therefore belongs to the classical modernism within contemporary realism. Adriana uses techniques from the classics (layer upon layer) while her compositions and her color combinations are contemporary. She never makes a direct representation of reality. The objects in her still lifes are only used as inspiration. The light is manipulated in such a way, that even this serves as a subject. This gives her paintings an extra dimension that sometimes is hardly visible, but clearly tangible. The devotion and extreme perfectionism of her work is reflected and explained by her following own words.

I am frequently asked whether I would rather be anything other than a painter. My answer to that is always certainly no. Actually you do not become an artist. You just are one. It is a way of life. "Being a painter" is in my person. I was always busy with painting, just continued doing so and developed myself. Many people think that I only work once I'm stricken by inspiration. In practice, it does not work that way. There are days when it will not work out so well. That is not so bad. Finally, I do not have to hang everything what comes out of my hands. Only the best reaches the galleries. Painting is for artists like breathing, you can not stop it. Therefore there is no retirement age for artists. Artist you from the beginning to the end of your life. You are an artist from the beginning to the end of your life.