World Fine Art Professionals and their Key-Pieces, 500 - Ad van Riel

World Fine Art Professionals and their Key-Pieces, 500 – Ad van Riel
Together with Ad van Riel I walk past his work in the exhibition Little Stories in the three rooms of Pulchri Studio (the Mesdag room, Weissenbruch room and Hardenberg room). There are more than 300 small panels, 353 to be exact. In some cases they are grouped, two/three or four together. I see a lot of nature, people, animals, (wayang) puppets, regular patterns in a multitude of colours and a plain background in, for example, yellow, pink or light blue. Each work is beautifully framed, no matter how small it is.

These 365 paintings were made between the end of 2017 and the end of 2022. In the work we see many natural elements: animals, plants, landscapes, people. “It is also about nature, trees, plants, and our relationship to them”, he explains. He also wanted to see everything together; Pulchri was a suitable place for it, after all, he was also a member. At home or in the studio that was really impossible. In this exhibition there are 353 works present, the missing 12 have already been sold.

The paint is the guiding principle for the image
Each work consists of several layers of paint on a panel of MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard), sometimes also on canvas. This MDF can be found in abundance in the waste bins of local DIY stores. He applies cardboard without wood fibres to these panels. He starts with a number of layers of acrylic paint, which dries quickly. This is followed by a number of layers of oil paint. The uniform blue or yellow around the image comes later. “It is strongly figurative work, although it seems abstract at first,” he explains.

Each work is an adventure in paint, the result of which often surprised him. We walk past a small painting. He points out a few shapes and scenes, which spontaneously come to light when I look at the paint stains. “I let the paint drips, splashes and streaks guide the scene. No one has done this before, but I have seen a similar approach with Francis Bacon and Hieronymus Bosch. In the Garden of Earthly Delights you see white figures, which are created from white paint splatters. Unfortunately you can’t get closer and look properly.”

Black frames
We walk on. I see a feast of imagination with the use of perspective and light effects. If you look closely, you sometimes see figures within figures, and you see more and more figures appear. It’s called Pareidolia, the figures that you can see in random shapes and structures. Looking at clouds you see heads, horses, a lady with a telephone… etc. There are beautiful frames around it, mostly custom-made and saved from the thrift store and Marktplaats. Gems of frames.

Research into painting
He tells me a bit more about his art in the society annex café / restaurant of Pulchri. His work is a research into painting itself. “I ask myself the question: ‘How can paint as a material in itself provide the image. And not: how can reality give me the image.’ In the period 2004 – 2005 he had more or less become stuck in his own work. It was no longer interesting. “I had no connection with it anymore. It was like a child who leaves home, but can’t yet live in a room properly. I was stuck with something I was good at, and I had to let go of that. It becomes a mechanism, a trick. I absolutely wanted to get rid of that. And I think I succeeded.”

Key work
The very beginning of the new course was in 2003-2004. “I started painting spontaneously. Very colorful work. I sold almost everything. It ended with three/four self-portraits. The series is called: ‘Images of order and overview’. In the period early 2005-2008 he made works that can be qualified as key works. “The first works in which I left the image to the behavior of the paint, such as ‘The greeting’ (2005), ‘Urban setting’ (2005), and ‘Untitled 05-1’ (2005).”

How long has he been an artist?
“I am now 65. Over 40 years. I attended an academy at a later age. A strict requirement to call yourself an artist. St. Joost in Breda was that, the so-called part-time training. With a job in education during the day. I learned a lot about the treatment of paint, contrast and composition. I look back with satisfaction on this training and the development of my work. I have let go of the idea that you could create an image from a total mastery of material, surface and inspiration. I am not fascinated by WHAT I paint, but HOW the image is born from the paint.”

A good vein
“In painting, you have to find your own way,” he concludes. “I think I have achieved that. With a lot of room for spontaneity and improvisation. I have taken a path that has yielded me a lot. This exhibition is an example of that.” He also makes larger work. His larger work is similar to this one, larger in size, larger shapes and other forms. “It is difficult to deliver a constant flow of quality, but that is there in all these 353 works. I have tapped into a good vein and I hope that the public can see that too.”

Images
1) Mean Little Killer, 2) The Moving Horde, 3) The Giant, 4) Primordial Sea – The Kiss, 5) Ghost, 6) Cycling Tour, 7) Country Life, 8) Ocean, 9) On thoughts, 10) Portrait photo Ad van Riel

https://www.advanriel.nl/
https://www.pulchri.nl/nl/kunstenaars/ad-van-riel/
https://www.instagram.com/ad.vanriel/
https://inzaken.eu/2024/12/13/ad-van-riel-ik-laat-verf-en-beeld-samenvallen-in-pareidolia/