Recent Paintings - Kees Koomen

Sentiers d’été
Walks in Vaucluse (FR)

Walking used to be something you do in your holidays. Never would I have guessed that it became a way to keep healthy and to avoid your body from deteriorating. When Corona came over us and (in my case) retirement from a regular job started, it became clear that the body needs movement to stay healthy. I started to do regular walks and discovered that the mind also benefits from it. As you can read below awareness of your surroundings grows, you get into the here and now. This also means a growing sensibility for images and inspiration for painting! I have always liked to paint portraits so I started the series of Brief Encounters below during the pandemic. On the other side I keep my diaries, also during holidays and I decided to work through these notes to start a series of paintings. I wanted to limit the theme to the holidays in France and worked on it in a sketchbook. After editing texts and making sketches I started to paint . You can see some results of the past two years.

_{A WALK ALONG THE SORGUE, A QUIET PATH STRETCHED OUT FOR ME
IN BRIGHT LIGHT, BREAST DEEP A FISHERMAN STOOD IN EMERALD GREEN
A WOMAN STRUCK A STONE ON A DRY BAGUETTE FOR CHAPELURE (OR DUCK FOOD)
LATER A GIRL ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO DESCEND THE RIVER IN HER GREEN KAJAK
SHE STOOD OUT TO ME BEFORE BUT I DECLINED AND WENT ON FOOD
BEAUTY IS DIFFICULT}

_{Beauty Is Difficult} _{– 2023}
_{oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

_{A HOT WALK TO LAGNES, THE BICYCLE TOUR PASSED BY HERE
NO DRINKS, DESERTED STREETS WE SAT DOWN IN FRONT OF A WALL
IT RADIATED HEAT IN THE SHADOW
SHE CALLED: A BIG BLACK SHADOW BEHIND US, A FRIGHTENING SOUND CAM FROM SOME DISTANCE
WE FOLLOWED THE CANAL, SHE WAS NOT WELL BUT CONTINUED TO THE BEERS OUR NEIGHBOURS OFFERED US ON ARRIVAL}

_{A Frightful Sound – 2023}
_{oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

_{A HOT DAY, WE WENT TO THE MARKET IN THE EVENING, VELLEROUN, MARCHÉ AGRICOLE
CARS FROM EVERYWHERE, WE TOOK BEERS WATCHING THE CROWD WAITING
IT LOOKED LIKE A ROCK CONCERT, A GATHERING FOR ENTERTAINMENT INSTEAD OF TAKING CARE OF DAILY NEEDS
ON THE TARRACE AN OBESE TYPE KICKED KNUCKLES WITH A SATISFIED GRIN
THEN PEOPLE CAME OUT, PREY IN HAND, NOBODY SHOULD TOUCH IT ANYMORE}

_{A Gathering for Entertainment – 2023}
_{oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

_{A WALK TOWARDS THE CANAL DE CARPENTRAS. AT THE PARKING LOT NEARBY A DARK GIRL LAY ON HER BELLY
ARMS AND LEGS SPREAD OUT ON A TOWEL, IT WAS NEAR NEAR THE RESTING ROOMS
THEN, ON A WALL THAT SEPERATES THE RIVER FROM A POND A WOMAN LAY ON HER BACK, ALMOST NO CLOTHES
A SIGHT FROM LONG AGO, SOMEWHERE ELSE
LATER,ON TOP OF THE AQUQADUCT WE COULD NOT PASS: A GIRL WAS WORKING OUT HIGH ABOVE THE GROUND WITH A DOG,}
_{ON THE WAY BACK THE FIRST GIRL WAS STILL LYING THERE AS SHE WAS BEFORE, SHE MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD}

_{She might as well be dead – 2023}
_{65×50 cm,} _{oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

_{HEADING FOR CAIRANNE CYPRESS TREES ALONG THE ROAD
SOLMN FEATHERS IN PERSPECTIVE, I MISS THE SMILES AND TEARS OF SARCOPHAGI IN LES ALYSCAMPS
BUT WE LOOK FOR LIFE HERE, OUR NEIGHBOUR CLAIMED HE HAD OF ALL BUT CAIRANNE IS BEST TO KINDLE A FIRE IN WINTER
HE TOLD ABOUT LIZARDS ON THE SLOPES THAT WOULD JUMP FROM ROCKS, BITE AN ARM TO NOT LET LOOSE
WE BOTTLED THE WINE IN A DARK SPACE
FOR WHEN THE COLD WOULD LOWER OUR FLAMES}

_{Solemn feathers – 2024
65×50 cm,} _{oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

_{I SHARED DARKNESS AT MIDNIGHT, ON THE FIRST OF AUGUST, STARS NOT FALLING
OTHERS IN EUROPE JOINING THE SAME IDEA UNDER IT’S EVER CHANGING SKY
BEING WHERE PETRARCHH LIVED, SAW LAURA AND WROTE CANZONE
THERE’S A GARDEN WE CALL HIS, DID HE LEFT IT TO CLIMB VENTOUX, DRIFITING TO IT’S SUMMIT
TO MEET HIMSELF IN AUGUSTINE’S PAGES, TO DISCOVER LIGHT IN DARK AGES
THEN DARKNESS WAS REAL, NOW LIGHT IS INEVITABLE, INSTEAD OF FEAR WE PARTY}

_{Sharing Darkness – 2026
65×50 cm, Oilpaint and pastel on canvas}

_{A LOCAL HERO SINGS IN THE VILLAGE, THE PUBLIC GATHERS AT LA COLLONNE
THE BAND LOOKS RADIANT PLAYING ON THE TERRACE, THE SINGERS MOTHER JOINED MONOTONOUS THE CHOIR-PARTS: JE T’AIMAIS, JE T’AIME, JE T’AIMERAI, CABREL! IT TOUCHES ME
ACQUAINTANCES EVERYWHERE, GREETING, TALKING,
ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE TERRACE A GIRL DANCES ALONE, DARK HAIR, SKINNY BODY IN BRIGHT RED DRESS
ARMS AND LEGS FLYING IN EVERY DIRECTION, SHE DOESN’T MISS A BEAT, NOT EVEN THE VERY LAST ONE}

_{Je t’amais, te t’ aime, je t’aimerai – 2026
65×50 cm, oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

_{CAFÉ CRÈME AFTER A STURDY WALK, THE VILLAGE IS FULL OF LIFE
IN THE MORNING. NEXT TO ME A MAN WITH AND A CHILD WALK BY, HE LOOKS OLDER THAN A FATHER
THEN THE MOTHER FOLLOWS, SHE SEEMS YOUNGER: THE BACK WAVES INTO PANTS COVERED WITH COLORED FLOWERS BUT WHEN SHE TURNS SHE ALSO LOOKS MARKED BY AGE
A YOUNGER CHILD DRIBBELS AFTER HER, THEN AN ACQUAINTANCE CALLS FROM UNDER THE PLATAN TREE, A CONVERSATION STARTS THAT IS SOON JOINED BY A FOURTH PERSON
BUT SHE EXCUSES HERSELF AND VANISHES, FATHER LOOKS AND CALLS THE CHILDREN. MEETING RESOLVES AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED}

_{La conversation se résout d’elle-même
65 x 50 cm, oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

_{ON THE WAY FOR A SHOP, PARKING, WALKING,
ROUTE ENSOLEILLÉ, A CAFÉ, FOUR MEN, STUBBLE BEARDS
FOUR CIGARETTES SIGH SMOKE INTO THE AIR
“MON PÔTE PENSE QU’IL NE VEUX PAS”
A HAND SWAYING ABOVE STEAMING COFFEE
AND EIGHT EYES FROM MAGHREB STARE IN THE BRIGHT LIGHT OF CAVAILLON}

_{Huit yeux
65×50 cm, oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

_{Example sketchbook from the diaries: Wine from Cairanne is best!}

Brief Encounters

In the spring of 2021 Holland was in a lock down. The whole country had to work at home which meant that most people worked behind a screen. To compensate the static situation people started to move consciously and so did I. I walked daily in and around Den Haag, which is where I live. I was much more aware of my surroundings and I thoroughly enjoyed the changes in nature during the winter and the coming of spring. During these walks I met people that stood out for some reason. After having finished the Berlin portraits (see below) I started to make notes and sketches in my notebook of people around me. The people I used for these sketches were sometimes known to me but most often I remarked someone walking across the street or people walking and talking behind me. Sometimes I only saw a glimpse of someone that made me wonder about such a person. The texts in the notebook may clarify that point.

After having done 21 portraits in my sketchbook I decided to paint a series of portraits as a memory of this period of pandemic. My Notebook would be the material and some of the text was also used in the portraits.

Culture and Nature Clashing - 2021 — _{Culture and nature clashing – 2022
65×50 cm, Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

I should have gone aside - 2021 — _{I should have gone aside} _{– 2022}
_{65×50 cm, Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

But she was elsewhere and not here - 2021 — _{But she was elsewhere and not here – 2022
65×50 cm, Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

Diogenes searching - 2021 — _{Diogenes searching – 2022}
_{65×50 cm, Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

If sirens would still exist... - 2021 — _{If sirens would still exist – 2023}
_{65×50 cm, Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

**_{Waste is an unuseful sentiment}** _{– 2023}
_{65×50 cm, Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

_{What would she think about it – 2023}
_{65×50 cm, Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

_{Something has happened that shouldn’t have – 2023}
_{65×50 cm, Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

Berliner Porträte

In September 2020 A-Trans invited EX-MÊKH in Berlin to make installations in the shop windows of the Kleist-subway station. Under the name Femaler we created two installations based on gender: one was done by the woman in our collective and the other one was done by the two men. Highlighting the opening of the exhibition both installations were revealed by performances. During the days installing the work we made long walks in the city and I drew little sketches of people that caught my eye. I did so in a little book that I always carry with me. At night I would describe the persons in text. Later that year I started to make larger drawings of them on the Malieveld and in January I made sketches in oil paint and oil pastel on stone-paper. This way of working appealed to me, so I started a series of Brief Encounters: people I saw during Corona walks. Later I will put those on this page too. For now I will show the Berlin portraits in the order that I made them including all material. I made a video about the whole series and send it in for the Platforms Project NET 2021 teaser to be published on April 6th 2021.

1 - Dunkel - 2021 — _{Dunkel – 2021
Oilpaint, oilstick on stone paper, conté on paper – 40×50 cm}

2 - Groschen - 2021 — _{Groschen – 2021
Oilpaint, oilstick on stone paper and conté on paper – 40×50 cm}

3 - Rücken - 2021 — _{Rücken – 2021}
_{Oilpaint, oilstick on stone paper and conté on paper – 40×50 cm}

4 - Earth - 2021 — _{Erde – 2021}
_{Oilpaint, oilstick on stone paper and conté on paper – 40×50 cm}

5 - Spirits - 2021 — _{Spirits – 2021}
_{Oilpaint, oilstick on stone paper and conté on paper – 40×50 cm}

6 - Sparren - 2021 — _{Sparren – 2021
Oilpaint, oilstick on stone paper and conté on paper – 40×50 cm}

7 - Efes - 2021 — _{Efes – 2021}
_{Oilpaint, oilstick on stone paper and conté on paper – 40×50 cm}

Muses and Metamorphoses

After finishing my researchtrip to the USA I processed the material into work that I showed at several occasions. Then I felt the urge to change my subjectmatter to a broader perspective. As a start I worked on my “Shard”- series, but I thought change as a subject might be appropriate in a world in which so much is happening. A series of small paintings with people from my diaries and the way I look at them now developed. I took the names of figures in Ovid’s Metamorphoses of which I thought it fitted the character I described and how it changed forme until now.

_{Rape – 2019
Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas}

_{Najade – 2019}
_{Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas}

_{Lynx – 2019}
_{Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas}

_{Arethusa – 2019}
_{Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas}

_{Amore – 2019}
_{Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas}

_{Circe – 2020}
_{Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas}

_{Diana – 2020}
_{Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas}

_{Euridice – 2020}
_{Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas}

**Hygieia** – 2020
_{Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas}

_{Iduna – 2020}
_{Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas}

_{Medusa – 2020}
_{Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas}

_{Scylla – 2020}
_{Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas}

_{Soiseubuda – 2020}
_{Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas}

Painting and text

In textdrawings you will find a development in which I started to use text from my diaries in my work. The first painting with text and painting that I did in 2014 was on the basis of an early entry in my diary. I was invited to participate in De Hommage for which a number of painters made an ode to Het Puttertje of the famous 17th century Dutch artist Carel Fabritius. The text I wrote was about a book an uncle gave to me as a present, it contained one hundred masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It said more about my uncle and his enthusiasm for my drawings than about Het Puttertje which was in the Mauritshuis anyway. First I duplicated the text on canvas and I painted a free rendition of the little bird over it.

_{Het Puttertje – 2014
Oilpaint and conté on canvas – 23×35 cm}

The way it worked out appealed to me so I took two texts about my hitchhiking adventures in Germany. Following the same procedure I painted Aquaplaning and Dillenburg, shown below. They were shown in Berlin at the Augentausch-exhibition at A-Trans in 2015.

_{Aquaplaning – 2014
Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas – 80×65 cm}

_{Dillenburg – 2014
Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas – 65x55cm}

I started to experiment painting texts and punctuation marks on a monochrome background. Then I added imagery to it. I also processed memories of my time in California, right after Dutch art-school.

**Strokes** – 2013
Oilpaint on canvas -different sizes

**Stroke** (from the diaries) – 2013
Oilpaint on canvas – 35×60 cm

**The Diaries August 2, 1985** – 2014
Oilpaint on canvas – 50×60 cm

**The diaries November 11, 1984** – 2014
Oilpaint on canvas – 50×60 cm

**Father** (From the Diaries) – 2016
Oilpaint on Canvas – 50×60 cm

Research USA

This was in anticipation of what came next: In 2016 I traveled in the USA with a grand from STROOM. I applied for research on Black Mountain College and some other influences I had during and right after Dutch art-school, when I studied at CCAC in Oakland California. My attention turned to Europe after all that but still echoes of this culture haunted me, so I wanted to know the relevance of these influences in my present practice. I wanted to have as much talks and discussions as I could to capture the state of the nation. So I traveled Greyhound.

Eventually this turned against me: this was the year that Trump campaigned to be president the first time and the media were full of his rhetoric. But the stories I heard and the people I spoke to talked about unemployment, poverty, evictions, divorce, unsufficient health-care, homelessness, hopelessness and more misery. It really got to me and my focus changed from my own intentions to the people instead. I wrote down quotes and descriptions in my diary. At home I made sketches of the people I met and wrote quotes in the sketches: The Pre-Trump Portraits. Eventually I painted small canvasses with these portraits.

**A night in hell** – 2017
Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas

**A prayer in limbo** – 2017
Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas

**Port Authority** – 2017
Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas

**Sophistication** – 2017
Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas

**Injury** – 2017
Oilpaint and charcoal on canvas

**Damnation** – 2017
Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas

**At Montgomery** – 2018
Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas

**Give and take** – 2017
Oilpaint on canvas – 17×21 cm

_{At land’s end – 2017}
_{Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

_{Twin Towers – 2017}
_{Oilpaint and oilpastel on canvas}

I also started to make sketches for larger work I wanted to make which I worked out in new paintings. My art-memories about working together and publishing Ysland Magazine in the eighties made me think about the way artists from New York socialized in bars and restaurants in the fifties.