Voyage of discovery

Loek Klinkhamer (born1941) (first name pronounced as: Look)

I live and work in Arnhem. Every now and again I work in a large studio in Austria. When working on my paintings and sculptures there is a constant interplay between myself, my surroundings and imagination. My works of art cannot be placed under a single category. The images, drawings, etchings, works on paper, paintings on panel and canvas, show a great variety in subject, technique and format. But however different they may be, all of my work clearly carries my mark, after decades of experience and study. I work without a preconceived plan. When I start a painting, it sort of “shoots up into space”. I continue to work at it until everything has found it’s place. I rediscover materials, I play with the image that emerges, take away, paint over, sand away. Every time I experiment with material and technique.

How exactly I do all this I will never disclose, just like the illegible pieces of my poetry which frequently appear in my paintings. My amazement about and admiration for the life I see around me is like a voyage of discovery and it is my guide in my paintings. I can express clearly in my work, through the interplay of thought, shape, colour and material how I see the life that passes by me. I am therefore painting inside my head 24 hours a day. The viewer sees the surprising outcome. I rarely give my paintings a title. I feel that it would be too much of an influence on the viewer. I'd like the viewer to give meaning to what he or she sees for him or herself. The works of art are more important and more interesting than the thoughts of the artist.

I have exhibited both at home and abroad, including in 2011 at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in the Louvre in Paris and later in Stockholm, Malmö, Copenhagen, Munich and Bischofshofen. 

You are welcome to come to my house and look at my artworks, without any obligation. Call: 0031(0)26-3230844 or mail to: loekklinkhamer@kpnmail.nl

For this website a selection has been made from my many artworks.