LEATHERFACE Painting

Born in Antwerp/Belgium in 1958.I've been a fulltime painter for over 20 years now, before that I drew and painted as much as I could in my spare time since I was 12 years old.Always dreamed of doing this fulltime, never thought it would be possible, now hundreds of paintings later I'm still going strong and getting better every day.In general, my goal is to combine the artistic craftsmanship of classical painting with the limitless possibilities of imagination in contemporary art. I strive to make a well-made aesthetic work of art by maintaining quality and using any technique thats available to me. If I have anything to convey at all in my work the very least I can do is to paint it well. With this being said, and since the majority of the art world wants to categorise every artist, Neo-popart is as close as I can come to defining my style. It is not a retro-style. Im not endeavouring to revive the sixties or copy any of the great giants of popart. No, I want to make contemporary, post-conceptual art. There is enough pretentious, cerebral, coolly calculated, analytical and de-constructive art out there already.My intent is to bring back the emotions in art, even the most simple and sentimental ones. I dont shy away from incorporating kitschy elements in order to make a point - love the idea of camp even if its tongue in cheek occasionally. I want to bring about emotions but not in an abstract way. All my work is 100% figurative. Im not directly expressing my emotions on the canvas. Im trying to create something that will evoke an emotion or response from the viewer. Those are two totally different concepts.I do not consider my art as personal therapy a medium to exorcise the demons in my head. My desire is to provoke positive emotions in the viewer by combining different elements, which arent necessarily related to each other in a rational manner. Combining the elements together should make one, hopefully intriguing, new image.Also Im not trying to tell a story through my work. My art isnt narrative - its not prosaic, but perhaps more poetic. I attempt to provide the viewer with enough interesting elements to make up his own mind if they so choose. This is not to say that my paintings are void of my own personal emotions or ideas. Far from it, but that is not the point; my ideas and emotions are incorporated within a work whether consciously or not. However, the viewers interpretation of the work is as valid as mine.