Rich. Guest: Paul Hoek

16 February 2011

Paul Hoek modeling "Paintings to Wear"

Paul Hoek (pronounced "whoooook") is a guest of the Inner Richmond this month, having traveled from The Netherlands on a government artist grant. His work will hang alongside Nico van den Berg's short films that document Paul's own artistic process while dropping "Water Paintings" into the Amstel river and burying "Earth Paintings" in the fields of Amsterdam. Just as his water and earth paintings focus on the ritual process of discovering layers beneath a surface, Paul's new works involve a methodical process of excavation.

By covering one canvas with adhesive and placing a second canvas on top of it, Hoek imitates the silk printing processes of the 1700s with a "charcoal transfer." He paints charcoal onto the uppermost canvas, directly contacting the canvas with his hands, until the fine charcoal powder sifts through the surface and settles on the adhesive of the canvas below. The resulting couple have varying gradients of black and grey with soft halos and sometimes harsh scratch-like lines from the point of contact between both canvases. Paul's process is so refined that he has actually protected it by copyright law, drawing attention to his branding as a commercial entity.

Come by tonight's opening reception for The Rich. Kids at Y2Y Gallery (inside Jeff King & Co) at 251 Balboa Street to step into these emotive works. This may be your only chance to meet a bonafied Dutch painter in person - you'll love the way he pronounces "UGGs."

See more works by Paul Hoek at http://paulhoek.nl/