Marcel van Eeden (Den Haag, 1965) creates graphic narratives. He draws from existing imagery found in magazines, newspapers, and books. However, all the visual material he uses as a starting point predates his own existence.
This choice reflects Van Eeden’s fascination with non-being: the period preceding his own existence. By employing existing images and literally taking them into his own hands, he seeks to grasp what he himself has not experienced.
Since 2005, Van Eeden has been working in series. Cat. 2.8: Desserts (2015), a series of lithographs of desserts, serves as an example of this. Undeniably not photographs, yet the glaze glistens and the fat quivers. Van Eeden’s handwriting is realistic, but his ‘translations’ of images allow them to become part of a different story. They have begun a new and unique chapter. Typography is also an important element in Van Eeden’s work. It serves as a preview of a particular aspect of the graphic narrative, but also exists as a striking image on its own. With the images he finds and uses as a starting point for his drawings, Van Eeden claims to build a story. He combines images from various sources and times with a fictitious storyline.
With the images he finds and uses as a starting point for his drawings, Van Eeden claims to build a story. He combines images from various sources and times with a fictitious storyline. As a result, certain characters frequently reappear in his oeuvre: archaeologist Oswald Sollmann, botanist K.M. Wiegand, and psychiatrist Matheus Boryna.
The desire to become a writer has always been ingrained within me. […] It is possible, it seems, to construct a story using photos found in magazines. In this scenario, history becomes a vast container full of Lego blocks. Each individual block representing a historic fact or photo that may have no apparent connection, but when pieced together, form a narrative that is not entirely true.
Van Eeden received his education at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (1989-1993). Exhibitions featuring his work have taken place at prestigious venues such as Albertina (Vienna), Drawing Room (London), Martin-Gropius-Bau (Berlin), and GEM (The Hague).
www.ftn-books.com has several van Eeden pub;ications available.
