(Image: Arjan van Helmond, five chairs, one table, 2012; Courtesy of the Artist and Galerie Juliètte Jongma)

Arjan van Helmond (b. 1971, Deurne; The Netherlands)

The things we surround ourselves with in our daily lives form a shadow of who we are. My work sheds light to non-spectacular and common objects and spaces of our daily surroundings -the carpet under our feet, the color of the wallpaper, souvenirs and trinkets in the closet. Though my work is not explicitly narrative, it is through these evocative details that I am building up a form of realism, sketching a path between history, culture, cliché and everyday habits.

By turning photographic images into paintings I appropriate the images, their reality becomes subversive: I'm interested in an experience that’s hidden behind these images and in their psychological potential. The work tries to make the tension under the surface tangible, as a possible outburst in the painting.

Ultimately the work is an unfinished, fragmented inventory and a critical analysis of our daily environment, by which I hope to offer a form of portrait of contemporary society.

Education:  Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunst, Amsterdam, NL, 2003-2004. Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, NL, 1997-1999. Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, NL, 1993-1997. Technische Universiteit, Faculteit van Industrieel Ontwerpen, Delft, NL, 1989-1993.

Arjan van Helmond was chosen as a Juried Winner in Round #3 of the 2012 Showcase series.

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