Amsterdam-based artist Renee de Vries is "exhibiting" her artworks at MASTERS Gallery this week. Inspired by sunny countries, new cultures and inspiring people, Renee creates the most diverse creations with her palette knife. Her works make it to numerous exhibitions, including the Nieuwe Kerk and De Suikerhof in Amsterdam.Text: Larissa Schaule Jullens
Image: Renee de Vries
"This is my most recent painting: the paint is still wet, so to speak. For me, the subject of this painting is very special. I am currently staying in Curaçao for a few months and this is where I met Katie. Katie is a young Venezuelan who came to Curaçao four years ago - legally, as a "tourist" - to earn money for her children and further family in Venezuela. So she did not return the moment she had to leave Curaçao again. And thus remained on the island as an undocumented person. Illegally and with an expired passport. Working hard for her family. For four years she had to feel the loss of her children: this became heavier and heavier. There was no way to return. Until last week: Venezuela agreed to a repatriation flight for 120 Venezuelans! The person who had been taking care of Katie for some time immediately went to work for her. The result? As I write this, Katie is in a hotel in Venezuela where she has to stay for three days and then she will finally be allowed to go home to take children and further family into her arms. I wanted to create the portrait of Katie out of deep respect for her. I wish her all the happiness in the world and have felt it a privilege to know her."
"This is my biggest canvas. An old one already, from 2000. It hangs at my house and covers an entire wall. And I love this painting. I made it after I returned from South Africa, after visiting my sister. A country whose natural beauty is almost impossible to describe, so beautiful. But also, of course, a country where apartheid played a role for so long. A country with a lot of abuses that only made things hard for its largest population. But the joy and hope after Mandela' s release and after his presidential election, I also remember a lot of it. Dancing people in a field, color, movement and more color. I wanted to depict the feeling of freedom. And not tied to South Africa alone."
"France: the cuisine, the language, the amazing Nouvelle Vague films AND The French Chanson, I love it so much. In 2016, I created four paintings of four - in my opinion - phenomenal Frenchmen. Jacques Brel, Jeanne Moreau, Brigitte Bardot and "La Môme (Edith) Piaf. All pasty painted with palette knives. And in shades of blue with the occasional tiny other color accent. I have a thing for that. Portraits in blue. With all shades of blue anyway. Sometimes from sadness over the loss of people I love very much, every day, even though they are no longer there. A kind of periodic blue periods, actually. So here is Edith Piaf 'en bleue'. For me, this painting radiates her emotional power. La Môme Piaf (the little sparrow) with the big voice! By the way, the four portraits created have all been given a place in a restaurant (Chez Brigitte) in the south of France."
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