Eelco Maan

Eelco Maan’s painting is transcendental and powerful, as it holds a unique sort of energy, charged with emotion and subtleness. His mark is so authentic that becomes something unmistakable. His painting is endowed with a deeply alchemical halo, which gives it a peculiar magic. It holds mysterious hues and undefined contours that are found in unknown places and absolutely untapped areas. From his abstractionism, one can actually establish some analogies, such as an emulsion paint or craquelure on a flat surface, or even clouds for that matter, a galaxy or a nebula entangled in a subtle and undetectable movement.

The harmony and rhythm of his compositions can be compared to music scores, in which colours and shapes get together, echoing and multiplying themselves in consonance with a breathtaking melody. Maan expresses his textures with subtleness, masterfully relying on a juxtaposition of layers and planes. His composition is often materialised around a central axis, one that deploys a magnetic spot of convergence that attracts all the shapes, textures and colours.

Colours are fresh and vibrant, almost organic: the bright blue planes ignite themselves in the vastness, in an ethereal peacefulness and silence. The warm, vibrant and organic colours look as if they were about to explode in a heartening plethora of orange, ochre and red, which, like blood, spurt a vital energy that fills our soul. The light is intense, white and divine, it comes from the infinitude, in a long journey, after consecutive transitions between transparent or translucent planes, in a brightness so intense that is almost gentle, ethereal and tireless. His nebulas seem to be there to conceal part of a scene, as if we were witnessing a share of the universe under a permanent expansion.

By Pedro Boaventura • Excerpt from Masters of Painting - Volume 1

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Eelco Maan's compositions in colour can be compared to musical arrangements. Strong contrasts are blended exemplary and with a superb sense of harmony into a unity of subtle variances. His paintings possess a fascinating, mysterious quality which occupy a world of their own, an indescribable world which by far transcends our rational existence. His story begins when words are superfluous.

Eelco Maan has been working as a visual artist since 1994. Initially experimenting with figurative, Fauvism and surrealistic elements – influenced by Klee, Miró and the CoBrA movement – he gradually adopted a more austere and abstract style. Any 'Moon-watcher' (his Dutch name 'Maan' means 'Moon') might very well recognize his attraction to the craquelure in early medieval art, to the savage Pollock eruptions and the obstinate colour abstractions by Eugène Brands and Willem de Kooning.

His work represents the lyrical abstract art tradition but with its own merit and a mystical undertone. His oeuvre touches ineffably upon works by preceding masters, but always shows a compelling idiosyncratic character. Recognisable for its authenticity. His work has been displayed in galleries in The Netherlands, UK, France and Belgium since 1995, both as a solo exhibitor and in collaboration with other artists.

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2013 Galerie "In de oude school" I Stroe (Gelderland)

2013 Kunst in de kop I St. Clemenskerk in Steenwijk

2013 Galerie Sous Terre I Kunstbeurs Westeinder Plassen, Aalsmeer

2013 Atelierroute Steenwijkerland

2013 Galerie 713 I Knokke I Belgie

2013 Oxford Arts Festival with Claremont Gallery I Oxford UK

2013 Galerie de Paardenstal I Espel (Flevoland)

2013 Kunstwerk! in de stellingen I Noordwolde (Overijssel)

2012 Art Gallery Radeski, Liege, Belgium

2012 Claremont Gallery, Sevenoaks/UK

2012 Galerie Sous Terre, Aalsmeer

2012 Galerie Bruelle, Steenwijk

2012 Atelierroute Steenwijkerland

2012 Kleine kerk Steenwijk

2012 Diaconessenhuis Meppel

2012 Galerie Tolg'Art, Wierden

2011 Galerie de Swarte Ram, Doesburg

2011 Arti 2011, Den Haag

2011 Art Gallery Radeski, Luik

2011 Kunst in de Kop, Steenwijk

2011 Galerie Sous-Terre, Aalsmeer

2011 Cultuurtempel Haarlem/Van Duivenboden Interieur, Haarlem

2011 Galerie in de Oude School, Stroe

2011 Galerie Tolg'Art, Wierden

2011 Galerie Miya, Hellevoetsluis

2010 Open Art Fair, Utrecht

2010 Galerie de Vlaming, Den Haag

2010 Galerie Art in Maupertuus, Geulle

2010 Kunstsalon Eindhoven, Eindhoven

2009 Galerie in de Oude School, Stroe

2009 Galerie De Swarte Ram, Doesburg

2009 Galerie Thyade, Rotterdam

2008-2009 Galerie Gauguin, Heeze

2008 Galerie & Artotheek de Vlaming, Den Haag

2008 Galerie Art in Maupertuus, Geulle

2008 Galerie Eikenaar, Burgh Haamstede

2008 Galerie in de Oude School, Stroe (Gelderland)

2008 Primavera Kunstsalon, Rotterdam Ahoy

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• Embracing the Light, lyrical abstract paintings, Eelco Maan/Kunstboek, 36 pagina's FC, 21 x 21 cm, ISBN 978-90-811204-0-1, 2012

• TWAALF, Eelco Maan & Hannah de Leeuwe, Gedichten en foto's, 21 x 21 cm, gebonden, 28 pagina's, ISBN 978-90-811204-2-5, 2010

• Aan de vooravond, Eelco Maan, gedichten, gedichtenbundel / 130 x 190 mm / 56 pagina's / ISBN 978-90-484-1205-1, 2010

• Het universum in de kunst, boek bij gelijknamige tentoonstelling, Galerie Thyade, juli 2009 • Galerie Gids 2009

• Tableau Finearts Magazine, december 2008 (pagina 99)

• Catalogus Primavera Kunst- en Antieksalon 2008 (pag 76)

• Kunstgids Kunstenaars 2008 eerste editie ISBN97-809687-3-8 (pag 164-165)

• Invitation to Art, Kunsttijdschrift, Winter 2006-2007

• In het domein van de Ziel, Eelco Maan, Schilderijen, 2006 / Kunstboek, 52 pagina's FC, 21 x 24 cm, ISBN 90-811204-1-7

• Galerie Gids 2006 • Eelco Maan, Schilderijen, 2006/ Flyer/ Uitgave tbv. de Holland Art Fair

• Eelco Maan, Schilderijen, 2005 / Brochure, 16 pagina's FC, 21 x 21 cm

• Eelco Maan, Works on paper, 2003 / Brochure, 16 pagina's FC, 21 x 21 cm

• 1001 Reasons to love the earth / The world Art Collection, Art Book, 2002 , ISBN 90-80-4045-5-1

• Eelco Maan, Paintings 1994-2000 / 2000, Brochure , 16 pagina's FC, 21 x 21 cm

• Amtec Art Kunstkalender , 1996

• Amtec Art Kunstkalender, 1995

• Galerie Pereboom, Oudehorne, 2006

• Galerie Gauguin, Heeze, Lustrumexpositie, 2006

• Galerie Catharina, Hillegom, 2006

• Holland Art Fair, Den Haag, 2006

• 'Lourens Pure Luxury' Event, Koperen Hoogte, Zwolle, 2005

• Galerie Beeldkracht, Scheemda, 2005

• Galerie Gauguin, Heeze, 2004

• Galerie Gauguin, Heeze, 2002

• Galerie Beeldkracht, Scheemda, 2002

• Galerie Erte Art, Echt, 2001

• De Bewaerschole, Haamstede, 2001

• Galerie Gauguin, Heeze, 2001

• Galerie/Atelier Overdevest, Berkel en Rodenrijs, 2001

• Galerie De Groene Poort, Middenbeemster, 2000

• Galerie Dingen, Vlaardingen, 2000

• Galerie Gaugain, Heeze, 2000

• Galerie Gaugain, Heeze, 1999

• Galerie "De Kunstkelder", Rotterdam 1997

• Pleintheater, Amsterdam, 1995

• Iran Brazil Art Gallery, Amsterdam, 1995

• Amtec Art, Zevenbergen, 1995

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Eelco Maan

Eelco Maan - Video