Hans Broek (Veenendaal, 1965) delved into the depths of the Dutch history of slavery in recent years, an abhorrent aspect of our past that has remained inexplicably overlooked for far too long. He visited slave forts along the Atlantic Ocean, worked in countries like Ghana and Senegal, conducted research in Suriname, and eagerly devoured the publications of historians and sociologists who approached the subject from a non-white perspective. This ultimately led to an extensive series of paintings exploring this fraught topic. Entitled “The Things I Used To Do”, De Pont showcased this series for the first time in 2020. The paintings serve as confronting testimony to the dungeons, prison gates, and plantation houses that bear witness to what transpired under Dutch rule. At the same time, they symbolize the inherent shortcomings of humanity.
When Broek left the Netherlands for America twenty-five years ago, he created panoramic paintings of cities along the West Coast of the United States: rolling hills adorned with sleek, plastered villas gleaming under a carefree blue sky. These surprising interpretations of his surroundings revitalized the landscape genre in the mid-1990s. The canvases have a cinematic quality, tinged with a hint of surrealism, because despite the absence of human figures, one can feel the culture’s hold over the environment.
www.ftn-books.com has several Broek publications available.
