Wim Gijzen (Rotterdam, 1941) has been working on his diverse, but consistent oeuvre since the 1960s. In 1965, he stood out with his submission of three paintings for the Salon van de Maassteden in the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam. However, he has always identified a conceptual artist. In the years that followed, Gijzen made a.o. mural objects, special works, videos, and photography, in which the Dutch landscape was a recurring theme. At this time, he also created his iconic photomontage of a meadow with grazing cows on the Schouwburgplein, a square in the centre of Rotterdam (1969). From 1975, he concentrated on drawings and paintings. His entire oeuvre is characterized by the de- and reconstruction of recognizable scenes. Traditional still-lives and landscapes are cut up and reinterpreted, to form new, abstract images. His approach is reminiscent of the cubist still-lives of Picasso and Braque, that show different facets of one and the same scene. Gijzen however, does not show the cut-up fragments, but presents a new image that bridges the figurative and the abstract. In this way, he confronts the viewer with his or her subconscious orientation on the horizon, vanishing points and recognizable elements in an image.
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