thank you Ko de Jonge for your mediation
Cover:
DREAMS & FALSE ALARMS #VII
exhibition [LOGO! NO LOGO?] | Bruges - 2005 middle panel
www.hansovervliet.com
curiositas@zeelandnet.nl
Lange Noordstraat 67
NL 4331 CC, Middelburg
Studio: Dreesstraat 2, Flushing
Introduction
Through the literal deconstruction of images from the all-powerful stream that disciplines us every day as "consumers" and as "producers," I aim to arrive at new constructions that poetically comment on this time and this space. The philosophical context is particularly inspired by the thinking of Hannah Arendt, Gilles Deleuze and Paul Verillo, among others.In particular, the philosophical context was inspired by the thinking of Hannah Arendt, Gilles Deleuze, Paul Verillo and others.
The method: I made paper collages from existing material, taken from the mass media: newspapers, timesheets, advertising leaflets, official letters from autorites, maps, catalogues, etc. I cut those chosen images into strips and then re-patterned them into new combinations. For this work the subjects were chosen from categories such as "militarism, violence, war, etc.", confronted/mixed with archetypal elements from the aesthetics of fashion, architecture, comercials, etc. in addition to all forms of art, dance, film, etc.
The work always has at least two qualities: from afar it gives an abstract image that reveals its pictu-ality when approached.
Rolf Bosboom in the Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant of 4 november 2005 wrote: The collages call for intensive viewing. They are collections of cut-up images with a very high density. Sometimes things are recognizable, such as a date line from a newspaper, flat-grounds and informational material from exhibitions apparently visited, but the images are so scattered that unambiguity remains at a good distance.
very high density. Sometimes things are recognizable, such as a date line from a newspaper, floor plans and informational material from exhibitions apparently visited, but the images are so scattered that unambiguity remains at a good distance.. (
Overvliet fragments reality with the utmost precision. The visual material is cut up into mostly narrow strips that are stuck together in geometrically perfect grid patterns. Viewing the collages from a distance, one sees above all the play of lines, the rhythm in the images, which keeps changing as the viewer takes more distance and the form wins from the content. The careful manner in which the works are constructed betrays his great dedication.
In the course of time, a few works also crept in that I made purely out of lust and therefore cared a little less about a possible content other than poetic art itself.
Since quite some time has passed since I made the last work, this document has the character of an intuitive retrospection in the mirror.
Middelburg, Saturday January 14, 2023
Hans OvervlietThis series of 10 x 15 cm. | 2001 - 2003 covers approximately a total of 120 pieces
about 20 x 24 cm.
about 30 x 32 cm.
† henri cartier bresson
August 3, 2004 | FloracFRANKRIJK
about 30 x 32 cm.
about 20 x 20 cm.
M. & cross #2 | Middelburg Saturday, March 17, 2018
In the studio complex in Vlissingen in the Netherlands, where my studio is situated, an artwork of mine is located on an intermediate platform of the stairwell. From ground level, five steps lie between you and that work. It measures 144 x 244 centi-metres. The artwork is an enlargement of a paper collage, printed on Perspex; different images are cut out horizontally and pasted back and thus interlock into a story with each other. Indeed it is the Image on the next page. Now part of the museum collection of Roel van der Linden in Prague: Lípa.
A group of twelve year old children of a primary school is visiting the complex in the context of an art education project.
A head scarfed girl, called M., sees the artwork and freezes in her movement. And she looks. After some time she takes the five steps up. Now she is standing still on the intermediate platform. And she looks. Then she slowly walks forward. Somewhere in the jumble of images she has discovered the head scarfed girl. That girl stands with her arms wide spread amidst the rubble of a street somewhere in Syria. The iconic picture of a prisoner in the Abu Ghraib Prison is imminent.
Our girl now touches the image almost with her nose; the art-work towering above her. Then she moves very, very slowly her hands together until her fingertips touch each other as if she was holding a sphere. Then her hands include the girl's head in the collage. She is standing there, her hands around the head of the other head scarfed girl. Eye in eye. Face à face . . .
Iraq - 2003 | total of 14 works including 1 stolen Each work approx. 28 x 20 cm.
hand made / vanishing landscapes | 2009 | total 28 works each work on A4
