ROBERT FORTGENS

Robbert Fortgens

Born in 1960 in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Robbert Fortgens works and lives near Amsterdam. Since his young age he is devoted to art, after having his degrees in Art at the famous “Rietveld Academie” in Amsterdam, it was clear he was “Born to be’ an abstract expressionist.
Fortgens creates in his paintings a gesture that already encloses composition, movement, emotion and corporeity.

The photograph and the painted surface form one whole by incorporating the photograph as it were in the painting. The two components complete each other and form together the art work. He describes the final result as a game between photograph and painting. Movement and depth play a large role in the work of Fortgens. He defines its work as teamwork of extremes: thick layers of painting beside the soft glossy surface of the photograph; the vehemence beside silence. These antagonisms make its work dynamical and multi-purpose. He tries speeding and catching movement in its pieces: the photograph reflects hectic people, frequently blurred and surprised in an action. The painting on the other hand let the inner feelings rest in search of silence in a very hectic life of everyday.

Robbert Fortgens, among others, expose in Barcelona, Valencia, Berlin, Paris, Cannes, in the Netherlands, Madrid and New York. His work has been incorporated in a large number of important company-collections and he exposed also in the “Stedelijk museum” in Amsterdam.