Exhibition ‘Fantastic Worlds’
In the exhibition Fantastische Werelden (Fantastic Worlds) three artists show their own view on reality. Priscilla Koopman creates fantastic dream worlds that are sometimes as gruesome as they are fairytale-like. Rogier van der Waals paints cartoonish skulls in bright colors and rough strokes. And in Brano Mijatovic’s naive landscapes, the trees come to life through the branches that resemble gripping arms.
Rogier van der Waals (Obdam, 1970) is a self-taught artist and worked for some time as a graffiti artist. One of his sources of inspiration is the work of the American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Van der Waals has a fast intuitive way of painting, expressive and colorful. His caricatured skulls look at us with wide eyes and a grimace and are so over the top that they become grotesque and humorous.
Self-taught artist Brano Mijatovic (Derventa, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1960-2010) paints in an abstract-realistic style. The series of landscapes in this exhibition show his naive imaginative work. Mijatovic depictions are often moody and painted in a colorful, simple style in which an almost childlike imagination becomes visible on reality.
With her recent autism diagnosis, Priscilla Koopman (Enschede, 1996) focuses on re-understanding herself and navigating the world as a neurodiverse artist. In her paintings she shows unique ethereal creatures that populate her universe. Each creation has its own personality and symbolism.
”I have found my way to express femininity, mental health and perception of the world in a colorful playful way. Connecting to the innocence of childhood and mixing it with grotesque reality and morbid elements is essential in my work. This is how I show the beauty of every situation.”
Koopman graduated cum laude from the Fine Arts Department of Centennial College in Toronto Canada in 2018. She won third prize in the Kunstbende competition in 2014 and took part in the Amsterdam International Art Fair in 2019 with an honorable mention.