Aat Verhoog - Etching, Rider on horseback

Increase, Aat - Venlo,
Human figures of diverse kinds populate Aat Verhoog's paintings. They pose somewhat deliberately, as if in occasional photographs, or are caught in a sudden movement. They have a somewhat artificial quality, as if they were actors in a play, hiding their true nature behind their feigned character. Riders on horseback, nudes surrounded by roses, people on chairs and in gardens are recurring themes. Celebrities from political and cultural history appear as displaced figures in unfamiliar surroundings. Contemporary and historical individuals appear together in a visual interplay. This interplay has several layers of meaning and is deliberately enacted. The visual meaning is shaped by an alternation of flat and deep, matte and transparent, and figurative and abstract elements. Expression, eroticism, and the relationship between the characters determine the emotional charge. Quotations from history, mythology, literary and visual traditions allude to an immaterial world of ideas. Often, the painter himself, as a silent observer, is present on the canvas. He is the center of the story, which takes shape through his characters. Aat Verhoog also proves to be a natural storyteller in his graphic and spatial work.
Education: Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, Free Academy of Art, The Hague.