Emo Verkerk (1955)
Often using several different materials, Emo Verkerk builds small works that are both two-dimensional and three-dimensional. A drawing that protrudes from the plane, or a sculpture that is flat. Verkerk often creates portraits of people he admires: Francis Bacon, Carel Visser, the philosopher Spinoza, writers like James Joyce and Georges Simenon, and musicians like Charley Parker, to name a few. Verkerk's portraits are anything but realistic, but still true to life – there is never any doubt as to the who or what.*
The creation of an experience of space is something that fascinates the artist. But rather than accomplishing this with perspective, which he considers a 'cheap trick,' Verkerk brings material, meaning and emotion together without merging them in to one. They remain independent entities, leaving the viewer's brain free to switch between the aspects of assembly, portrait and contemplation. A pile of withered leaves, a gnarled branch of a tree or a simple basalt block, in Verkerk's hands, are transformed into intellectual waystations where thoughts are released to float freely. More than just portraits, in each piece Verkerk creates a tiny homage to the subject and the power of imagination.
* H. Den Hartog Jager, Verf, Amsterdam 2004, p. 128
** J. Bremer, ‘Goede kunst overstijgt altijd de eenduidigheid:Emo Verkerk’, unlocked # 02 rabo kunstcollectie, Eindhoven 2005, p. 196
