Inner portrait, reflection of every day;
"Extraordinary explorations of internal self portrait.
Dark, erotic, haunted with grim humour and grotesque candour".
T h e U T U C S e r i e : C A N C E R
The UTUC, cancer serie:
UTUC (upper urinary tract urothelial cell carcinoma) is a continuous series of an imagination what goes on inside the body, a dark space with millions of cells where some have made their own plan for what we call cancer. For scientists an unique biological phenomenon is how powerful these types of cells can multiply and mutate.
But for me, it's a mysterious occurrence of millions of cells suddenly becoming actively dividing. This happens inside the body, within the organs, and spreading to other parts of the body. All of this occurs in pitch darkness, surrounded by soft bodies immersed in fluid flows, manifesting themselves in relation to the body's own tissue. Nothing is visible in all of this; it happens in the pitch dark and vibrates, moving in search of other parts where there are enough proteins that the cancer cell likes. In the absence of food, it can mutate and further manifest itself in that place. If it were accompanied by sound, it must be deafening, making the whole thing even more mysterious with its richness of variation in forms. As a patient, this is frightening; as an artist, it's fascinating. In my case, for as long as I have, I choose the latter and try to capture this in images: “the UTUC series is born..."
number 10, size: 60x80cm
Dune lake: Another one of the many, it always keeps attracting me, a quiet sand dune lake that changes every day due to weather conditions and inner mood. The image is a reference, the processing is an interpretation of it. Every day, the same sand dune lake can present a completely different painting. That's what makes it so interesting, ultimately everyone will experience the sand dune lake differently, only we are not aware of that. Is reality truly the reality we see? That intrigues me in everything I paint, beauty or aesthetics are not of importance. Location Meijendel The Hague/Wassenaar, Acryl/mixed media on artpaper 300grm size: 90x130cm, available, 2023
For years I have regularly been in the dunes / forests for inspiration. Over the years, my interest has increasingly focused on weeds/thicket species. Partly stimulated by the negative reputation of weeds while I think this type of plant is fantastic. The strength and speed of growth are eccentric shapes that the species can have as well as the ability to survive in poor conditions all the way through to concrete. There are all kinds of different species with its specific characteristics where also visually beautiful flowers can emerge and have the ability to grow other plants and trees at lightning speed. This often at the expense of the other species, which is completely overgrown and "drained from its nutritional juices..." This created a number of series of Thicket/Weed such as this one on a canvas size of 100x120cm. An interpretation influenced by weather and the inner mood. The series continues to grow, especially now that spring is coming and so the weeds will grow lush. Look at weeds with different eyes and see their beauty and functionality in...
Expositie FNWI Radboud Universiteit - Ronald van Merkesteijn
Ronald van Merkesteijn woont en werkt in Den Haag. Hij staat bekend om zijn landschappen, en is gefascineerd door de invloed van weersomstandigheden en seizoenen op de natuur. Hij studeerde beeldende kunst, onder meer aan de Rietveld Academie Amsterdam. Behalve als schilder was hij werkzaam als freelance illustrator, docent en grafisch/kunstconsulent waarbij hij vaak verbleef in landen in ontwikkeling zoals Oeganda, Colombia, Bangladesh, Maldiven, Zambia en Tanzania. Naast zijn landschappen creëerde Van Merkesteijn een serie verwrongen portretten en afbeeldingen met personages die zijn innerlijke onrust uitstralen. Zijn werk is te omschrijven als dynamisch en kleurrijk maar bevat voor de toeschouwer soms ook een sinistere sfeer.
Van Merkesteijn staat bekend als een kunstenaar die voor zichzelf schildert en niet voor de galeriewereld. Hij is altijd wars geweest van het tentoonstellen van zijn werk aan een breed publiek. Veel van zijn kunstwerken zijn te vinden in privécollecties over de hele wereld, zoals Zuid-Amerika, de VS, Zuid-Azië, Duitsland, Frankrijk, Zwitserland, de Seychellen, Oost-Afrika enz.
Eens in de 2 jaar werkt Van Merkesteijn mee aan maatschappelijke projecten, denk hierbij aan projecten als "Festival van Ouderen", het "Dhaka Art festival" en "Homeless People". Dit zijn internationale projecten waarin hij een manier vindt om bij te dragen aan de wereld.
Recent werd Van Merkesteijn geconfronteerd met een ernstige ziekte. Op dit punt in zijn leven besloot hij zijn kunstwerken meer open te stellen voor het publiek, en zijn inspiratie en zijn leven met anderen te delen.
Kunstcommissie Radboud Universiteit
" Extraordinary explorations of
internal landscapes.
Dark, erotic, haunted with grim humour and grotesque candour ".
© John Gartland
UPCOMING EXHIBITION
ON THE 31 OF MAY UNTIL 16 JUNE 2024, GHENT BELGIUM:
"a selection of my inner artwork"
10dence platform organizes and curates an international exhibition project presenting a contemporary vision on how an international group of artists experiences and reflect on the concept and subject: Myths, Fairy Tales and Mysteries from their specific personal viewpoints. An exhibition that will be on display at Hof van Ryhove in the city of Ghent in Belgium from May 10 till 31 2024. Twenty-one artists from all over the world have been selected to participate within the Myths, Fairy Tales, and Mysteries and all of them will show selected works of their unique vision and expression based on their personal confrontation with the concept.
I n n e r R e f l e c t i o n s
The Inner Reflections
series is directly opposite of the landscapes. The works are expressions of his social environment where the characters are central to everyday life. Expression of hidden frustrations keeps the softness of the individual in his environment sweet and in an imposed code of behavior that suppresses the inner, the wanting to be different. He wants to mock the influences of media, politics, education, values and norms, to show a certain madness. In today's society they have to comply with so many regulations and profile themselves as a personality. Which means that there is no longer room for inner personal expression. Society becomes a bombshell of frustration and personal disorientation. Social media mitigates the problem through manipulation and self-reflection in "bubbles" in which your own apparent "I" is confirmed and becomes a slave to your own apparent world.
size each : 50x70cm mixed media
"...He has chosen to delve into himself to produce distorted portraits and images featuring characters that exude his inner turmoil he has drawn inspiration from. These characters appear to have fluid genders, displaying both male and female traits. Their outlines are frenzied. Their colours reflect his internal conflict– they are angry spatters of blacks and blues with the occasional spark of neon green. They're abstract figures that transcend social strata while representing simplistic concepts through their titles, things like Watching Television and After Work Was Done…"
Newspaper The Daily Star South-Asia 2015
"...Merkesteijn is known as an artist who is painting for himself and not for the world of galleries. He has always been averse to exhibit his work to a wide audience, although he sometimes accepted an exhibition when the goal covers more than art and art selling alone. Think of social issues that touch his interest. Merkesteijn: ‘I paint for myself and less more. If I should paint for the money, I could better work at an office..."
Newspaper The Daily Star South-Asia 2015
Serie "inner flowers"
The first flowers come through, in the garden, the park, dunes / forests. Just an impulse to continue with this series now that it is so striking that these early bloomers are reporting. A number of works on a canvas size of 60x80 cm with acrylic and oil paint. Looking for a representation of how these independent bloomers relate to their immediate environment.
#flowers #impressionism #expresionismo #art #DenHaag #DUNEA #thehaguecity #innerwork #bloemen #forest #environment #segbroek #thehaguecity #gallery #dubay #paintingart #amsterdam #dunes #keukenhof #landscape #natural #netherlands
CONTACT, more info:
Facebook: Ronald Merkesteijn
Mail: merkesteijn@gmail.com