Rinus van de Velde
Leuven, BE, 1983 Works and lives in Antwerpen-
The sweater I wear for work is an imprint of everything I have ever made. No: it’s the blur of all my works blended together, a chaos of the smeared residues, the useless matter that didn’t stick to the canvas. Being part of my daily routine, I had never really noticed it, but one day, while I was daydreaming in front of the mirror and accidentally lowered my gaze, it caught my wandering mind. There it was, my artist’s uniform, separated from me, headless, a materialization of everything I didn’t need, a map of that strange, cold, dark and hard moon that revolved around my the homely planet of myself. I shook my head, literally shook the unpleasant thought out of it, and made a decision. I turned away from the mirror and made a drawing of the damned thing -
I am in a room, blindfolded. An almighty opponent is playing me. The game is a matter of life and death, of controlling or being controlled. It’s impossible to beat him, but I must and will. I refuse to believe in a god of the game unless that god is me. And I almost do win, but then I wake up, bathing in cold sweat, still wearing my shirt and cap.
Rinus van de Velde studied at the Academie St. Lucas in Antwerp and the HISK in Ghent, Belgium. His work is included in various museum collections and art collections. In the Netherlands he is represented by Galerie Tegenboschvanvreden in Amsterdam.
Visual artist Rinus van de Velde originally began his training as a sculptor. But in this medium he missed the speed and flexibility of drawing. His oversized charcoal drawings encourage viewers to look at them for a long time and to relate to them physically. His works of art, that often include words, are based on photographs that he has either found or taken himself.
Van de Velde sees his independent works of art as parts of one large installation. Together they become a fictitious story in which the artist features as a character. This is how he reflects on the world of art, on being an artist and on the mythical status of the artist’s studio. Van de Velde’s studio is very important to him. His drawings also refer, either directly or indirectly, to other art disciplines.
Rinus van de Velde at the opening of Beyond Tradition