Harmen Van Der Tuin

Biography

BORN IN THE NETHERLANDS (1958), HARMEN VAN DER TUIN IS AN EXPLORER OF FORM, COLOR, AND SPIRIT. RAISED IN GRONINGEN AND LATER BASED IN ZWOLLE, HE BLENDS A LIFE STEEPED IN ARTISTIC AND MUSICAL DISCIPLINE WITH A DEEP INWARD JOURNEY.
HARMEN’S WORK LIVES IN THE BORDERLAND BETWEEN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE. WITH THICK IMPASTO, ULTRA-MATTE PIGMENTS, AND TACTILE SURFACES, HIS PIECES FEEL ALIVE—LIGHT IS ABSORBED, SHADOWS DANCE, STRUCTURE EMERGES.
HIS ART IS NON-FIGURATIVE, NON-REFERENTIAL: WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT IS. THE BRUSHSTROKE BECOMES THE SUBJECT. THE MATERIAL, THE GESTURE, THE ENERGY THAT MADE IT:
HE DRAWS ON PHILOSOPHIES OF TAOISM, BUDDHISM AND NONDUALITY, INVITING THE VIEWER NOT TO INTERPRET, BUT TO FEEL, TO REST IN PRESENCE.