Exhibition Joris Verdonkschot and Eddy Stevens

On February 19, 2023, Bart Rutten, director of the Centraal Museum Utrecht, opened the exhibition of Joris Verdonkschot and Eddy Stevens. Two artists who each study and shape people in their own way. Verdonkschot in bronze and Stevens in oil paint.

Eddie Stevens

The paintings of Eddy Stevens (Brasschaat, 1965) are like a rebus. The enigmatic nature of his work raises questions that only a title like 'Human Behaviour' gives a hint of what you are looking at. The figures always play a leading role in which people are sometimes criticized or a mirror is held up to them. Why do people wear fur from a fox or do people develop a bomb and why are it precisely the 'smart minds' who engage in this kind of behavior.

His paintings are a translation of his thoughts on the timeless feelings and behaviors of man. Stevens creates these poignant stories by combining dream images, found objects and old photographs.

In this way he takes us into stories that can sometimes even be viewed as mythical. They seem like images from another time that we are allowed to witness and yet they are recognizable and current. This is reflected in a refined painting technique that Stevens has mastered from an early age.

Magic realism is perhaps an apt term. When Stevens was 14 years old he already had his first exhibition. After completing two different art academies, his work can be seen in some of his permanent galleries at an international level in Antwerp, New Orleans and Utrecht, among others. Works by Eddy Stevens have also been on display in Museum Jan van der Togt, among others. Now it is the turn of Utrecht for a long time.

Joris Verdonkschot

The bronze sculptures by Joris Verdonkschot have a 'touch' as it is called in the jargon. This key enables him to capture and manipulate the light.

Verdonkschot's vision: “I think that an image should have its own vitality. Not so much a representation of natural vitality, movement, bodily action, but a concentrated energy, an intense life of its own that a work can have independently of what is represented. When a work has this powerful vitality, I don't just attach the word beauty to it. Beauty, in the spirit of late Greek art or the Renaissance, is not my sole aim in the work.

But in addition to the beauty, precisely the power of expression. In the first case, the aim is for a delight to the eye, in the second for a spiritual vitality that is more gripping for me and touches me more deeply than the senses. Because an image does not get stuck in imitating natural appearances, it does not mean an escape from life, but rather a penetration into reality.

I always try to follow my passion from a state of innocence and always tap into another side of myself. Attempts to express the meaning of life, a quest for a more intense experience.”

Verdonkschot has received important assignments in recent years from the Dutch Red Cross, the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, and Philips Research. He designed a double statue for Princess Irene and a bronze bust of King Willem Alexander, which can be found in the ministerial hall of the Ministry of Social Affairs and in Museum Du Pont in Tilburg.

Recently, a larger than life statue of his hand was placed in the municipality of Bloemendaal. In 2010 he was invited as visiting professor to give lectures and lessons in sculpture at the renowned Repin Academy of Art in St Petersburg.

If you are a fan of technically advanced works of art, then this exhibition is highly recommended. But also if you like to look further and are curious about what lies behind the works of art, you have come to the right place. Despite the museum quality of these two artists, the visit is free.

Morren Galleries is open on Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm. The exhibition is until March 26, 2023, at Morren Galleries, Utrecht.  In addition to the usual opening hours, the gallery can also be visited after making an appointment by telephone: 06-54916131

VISITING ADDRESS : OUDEGRACHT 340, UTRECHT