30 April – 30 July 2024
GVPL Oak Bay Branch
1441 Monterey Ave., Victoria, BC
MWFS 10am-6pm / TTh 10am-7pm
| About the Artist and Work: Jan Vriesen is an esteemed Canadian artist and scientific illustrator, celebrated for his mastery in composing museum dioramas and immersive abstract paintings. His work captures the experiential sensation of Nature, bearing witness to its life, growth, and transformation through intricate organic patterns. Like living beings, his paintings seem to renew themselves with each observation, pulsing with an inner energy that reflects the aliveness of the world. Born during World War II in Germany, Jan’s family sought refuge in Canada when he was only thirteen years old. His passion for art flourished as a young man. He pursued Fine Arts at the University of Calgary in the 1960s, laying the groundwork for a prolific career ahead. Since then, Jan has lent his artistic vision to world-renowned museums such as the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, among many others. Collaborating closely with scientists, researchers, and curators, Jan has breathed life into prehistoric creatures and ancient landscapes, creating immersive environments that envelop the audience through rich detail, deep distances, and an intuitive command of scale. After decades of perfecting his hyper-realistic works, Jan fell in love with abstract art because of its ability to free the mind to wander off the beaten path. Adorned with carefully balanced geometric notes, Jan’s paintings guide the observer’s gaze along hard edges, thin lines, and vibrant colors, hinting at the sensation of flowers and light. Just like trees, rivers, maps, and corals, Jan’s paintings hide self-similar details, emphasizing a kaleidoscopic sense of space. Thus, any section of the image could be a painting on its own, and the whole can be experienced through the particular—a nod to Nature’s fractal infinite. Jan’s paintings also change depending on the time of day, as hidden specks of gold, silver, and copper in most of his works shine according to the position and intensity of the light in the room. By using any kind of paint or humble material that strikes his fancy, from old newspapers to silk cloth, his abstract creations express playfulness, transformation, and vitality. Jan’s works are usually quite large, like windows (about 90’’ by 60’’ inches), as they are meant to fill a person’s perceptual field to invite contemplation and prompt mind-wandering. Indeed, Jan’s intention is for people to lose themselves in the art. He can often be heard asking people, while they are deeply immersed, “What do you see in them?”. You can let him know by emailing him at frieze826@gmail.com |
