Antoon Knaap

Born amid the restless energy of 1960s Amsterdam, Antoon Knaap grew up in a city alive with transformation, a place where music, art, and rebellion danced together in the narrow streets and along the canals. Those formative years, steeped in the cultural revolution that made Amsterdam a beacon of creative freedom, left an indelible mark on his spirit.
In the early 1990s, Antoon crossed the sea to Ireland, ultimately finding in Maynooth a new rhythm, one that resonated with stillness, history, and the lyrical beauty of the Irish landscape. Here, he built a life and a practice that weave together his European roots and his adopted Irish soul.
Antoon’s work moves gracefully between the figurative and the abstract, between what is known and what is felt. When calm steadies his hand, he paints using the head, images shaped by memory and reflection. When emotion takes hold, he paints from the heart, colour and form surrendering to pure feeling. Over time, these two energies have begun to merge, creating works that seem to hover between worlds: intimate and universal, structured yet untamed.
Working with acrylics, watercolour, spray paint, and yarn, Antoon gives form to encounters between past and present, order and emotion. His canvases ...