Gray City Painting

Peter Spaans (Weesp, 1953, based in Amsterdam). Photography, books, mixed media, installations. Visualization of my fragmented thinking through photography, mixed media, collages, books and installations. In his body of work Peter Spaans ignores obvious subject matter such as famous landmarks; he is more interested in the ordinary cityscapes, and spaces that are often ( or not ) photographed or videotaped by many different people. For Mr. Spaans, it is important to understand these common urban spaces and how they function, as he believes they are what influence our lives the most. These are the spaces we encounter each day; they are where we live our normal day to day livesInspired by the daily life on the streets in different cities, films and photographs (newspapers and magazines). Peter Spaans worked with such curators as Okwui Enwezor (The Second Johannesburg Biennial, the traveling exhibition 'Mirror's Edge' with its share 'The Unknown Cities' project! and the book 'Cream contemporary art in culture'); Hou Hanru (The exhibition 'Unlimited II ' at De Appel, Amsterdam); and Jan Hoet (Sonsbeek 9, with Hans Eijkelboom, Arnhem). Exhibited worldwide, including the USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, Denmark, South Africa, England, Scotland, and the Netherlands. Peter worked on assignments for the Rai and the Bijenkorf, Amsterdam, and collaborated with such artists as Hans Eijkelboom** and Bert Wils*. Peter Spaans is represented by Johan Deumens Gallery, Amsterdam, and by Harper's books, New York.