Ben Dallas / Henri Matisse

 

Henri Matisse

The Red Studio 

1911

181 x 219 cm (71.5”x 86.25”)

oil on canvas

Museum of Modern Art, New York

 

 

A major influence on my work is Henri Matisse. His impact is not so much visual; it's inspired from his painting practice, a personal procedure he articulately explained in his "Notes of a Painter" written in 1908. He states:

 

    "Then a moment comes when all the parts have found

     their definite relationships, and from then on it would 

     be impossible for me to add a stroke to my picture

     without having to repaint it entirely."

 

Here, he explains an intuitive way of painting which entails a personal integration of materials along with his responses to the resultant effects rather than pre-conceiving of composition and design. This is the spontaneous process I employ to create my works, one which integrates painting and physical structure into one aesthetic expression. 

 

Ben Dallas, 2025

Ben Dallas

SCHEMATIC FOR A HUMDRUM UTOPIA 

2024  

38,1 x 26,7 cm (15”x10.5”)  

acrylic media, mdf, wood

Ben Dallas
SLOW RECOVERY FROM SELF-INDUCED NORMALITY 

2025  

26,7 x 35,6 cm (10.5”X14”) 

acrylic media, canvas, mdf

Ben Dallas (US)
ATTEMPTING TO GET OVER THE EXISTENCE OF FOOLS  

2025  

22,9 x 30,5 cm (9”x12”)  

acrylic media, canvas, glue

bendallas.com

Michiel Kluiters / Peter Fischli & David Weiss

 

Peter Fischli (1952) & David Weiss (1946–2012)

Untitled 

1994–2013
From the series Polyurethane Objects

hand-carved and painted polyurethane, 166 parts
dimensions variable

Peter Fischli & David Weiss

Untitled 

1994–2013
From the series Polyurethane Objects

hand-carved and painted polyurethane, 166 parts
dimensions variable

Peter Fischli & David Weiss

Untitled 

1994–2013
From the series Polyurethane Objects

hand-carved and painted polyurethane, 166 parts
dimensions variable

As a 2nd year student at the Rietveld, I came across their work from this series when I was on a gallery tour in NYC on my own. I was really under the assumption that I was walking in somewhere I wasn't supposed to and they were still busy building, but once the penny dropped I fell in love with the work and it definitely influenced me.

 

Michiel Kluiters, 2025

 

 

 

The objects—a seemingly random arrangements of tools, pallets, cleaning supplies, paint cans—are so meticulously crafted and convincingly painted that at first glance, you feel as though you’ve stumbled into an artist’s studio or idle workshop frozen in time. But the moment you start really looking, the spell unravels in the most exhilarating way. You realize these aren’t just everyday objects strewn about; they are painstaking, carved polyurethane replicas of mundane items, careful illusions—stripped of function and brimming with humor, warmth, and existential weight. There’s a tension between their hyperrealist craftsmanship and their absolute uselessness. 

Michiel Kluiters (NL)

Dimensional doorway series

2025

photowork

www.michielkluiters.me

Adam Taylor / Roger Cecil

 

Roger Cecil

Summer Mist

2001

National Museum Wales

Roger Cecil

Winter Night with Angharad

c.2003-2005

Roger Cecil

in the studio

 

 

 

I came across Roger Cecil’s work around ten years ago when a friend suggested I take a look. It immediately felt like finding a long lost friend, his paintings really spoke to me. 

He used a lot of household materials in his work and that’s what first got me into using tar (bitumen) in my work through learning about his process. 

His abstract paintings reflect a profound connection to the Welsh landscape and industrial heritage. What makes Cecil especially compelling is how he maintained a fiercely personal style, working in isolation and resisting the commercial art world to preserve the integrity of his vision. I have a profound respect for him as an artist. His art feels both intimate and universal, drawing you in and inviting quiet reflection.

 

Adam Taylor, 2025

Adam Taylor

The commuter (left)

oil on panel 

170 x 150 cm 

Horse (right)

oil on panel

170 x 150 cm

Adam Taylor

Our Mountain

oil on panel 

150 x 170 cm

Adam Taylor (UK)

In Dreams

2024

oil on panel

130 × 120 cm

www.adamtaylorartist.com

Jeroen Eisinga / James Turrell

 

James Turrell

Installation view 

February 11 - Aug 14, 2020

Pace Gallery, London 

© James Turrell

photo: Damian Griffiths

 

 

I was asked to write a little something about a dead artist who inspired me but wound up writing about a living one, sorry for that, I know I'm subverting the idea of this blog this way, but this is what came up, and also, I'm very happy that this artist is still alive today, so here's my contribution: Not an inspiration but a kindred soul. 

I really get inspired by life itself and so does he. When I was 20 years old, I woke up one morning and, in my hand, I saw a strange, very bright green light. I woke up my girlfriend, who was lying next to me in bed, and I said to her, 'Look at this light, isn't it wonderful? She said 'I see nothing', and turned around and went back to sleep. And I just sat there in complete awe of this beautiful 

light that shone from my hand. 

Until today I cherish this memory as one of those rare insightful moments into the divinity of our souls. When a friend told me about the colors that James Turrell saw while he was sitting in the darkness of his solitary confinement when he was in jail I felt a kindred spirit had been revealed to me.

 

Jeroen Eisinga, 2025

Jeroen Eisinga (NL)

The Gift

1995

Super 8 color film transferred to digital file

silent, 2'50" 

© Jeroen Eisinga

jeroeneisinga.com

Lieve van den Bijgaart / Lieve Prins

Lieve Prins

Dance of the Maenads 

1994

photocopy art

180 x 150 cm

Lieve Prins

cover catalogue touch

2004

 

 

 

Lieve Prins (1948-2019) is not just my name-mate; my father learned the name Lieve through her, so I am secretly named after her a bit :). I recognise a lot of myself in her methods. During my time at the academy, her work was recommended to me at a time when I made over 200 copies in a short time and compiled a book from them. I strive to apply her same approach, energy, experimentation and research within a specific medium, in my own practice, especially in my approach to the bronze casting process. In addition, I am a big fan of her use of animals in 'Dance of the Maenads'.

 

Lieve van den Bijgaart, 2024

Lieve van den Bijgaart (NL)

Foundry wear

2024

casted aluminium

120 x 150 cm

www.lievevandenbijgaart.com/

Shawn Stipling / Richard Serra

 

Richard Serra 
Walking is Measuring

1999-2000
weathering steel
two slabs: 5,5 x 2,4 m x 12,7 cm & 4,7 x 2,4 m x 12,7 cm
Fundação de Serralves, Porto
photo by José Carlos Melo Dias
© 2019 Richard Serra/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Shawn Stipling (UK)
6am

2022
acrylic on canvas
75 x 70 cm
photo by Pete Hope
© 2022 Shawn Stipling, UK

www.shawnstipling.com

Jordie Rovers / Edgar Degas

 

Edgar Degas 

Portrait of Henri Michel-Lévy

1878

oil on canvas

40 × 28 cm

Edgar Degas

Laundresses Carrying linen in town

1878

oil on paper

46 x 61 cm

From the model drawing classes at the academy in The Hague, I often work with soft pastel crayons. Through this path, I came across fascinating works by Edgar Degas. The layered use of color, the striking perspectives and the imagination in rough touches of his paintings will always stay with me. 

 

Jordie Rovers, 2024

Jordie Rovers

exhibition in PARK-Platform for Visual Arts, Tilburg NL, 2024

Jordie Rovers

Patacon 

2024

195 x 175 cm

oilsticks on canvas

Jordie Rovers (NL)

Bakje

2024

160 x 130 cm

oil on linen

cargocollective.com/jordierovers