Northern Renaissance revival in the works of Hendrik Kerstens
Light pouring from a small window subtly outlined the face of a young girl. Her deep ascetic look pervades the viewer ...
Hendrik Kerstens' gallery of works encounts a lot of large-scale portraits of a young lady. Sometimes imperious, sometimes slightly agitated, passionless or depressed, proud or humble. So she is - a subtle and delightful stranger from the "canvas" of a Dutch portraitist.
As we have been observing in recent years the tendency of art photography is turned to more general and contemporary issues, such as challenges of globalization and all kinds of social relations, and only a few turn to the primary and most important traditional artistic conception. One of these turns to the past, namely to classical art, a return to the sources of in-depth exploration of humanity, as opposed to the banality around us, is creative work of a famous Dutch photographer Hendrik Kerstens.
It seems very representative that in general Hendrik chooses to portrait his daughter in most of his works. This is due to his desire to discover the many facets of her inner world and uncover the ideal image of the archetype, he has found in her features. What does portrait of a young girl have in common with the famous self-portraits of Rembrandt? Like Rembrandt, Hendrik tries to capture and transmit the range of his feelings through the emotions, mood and character of a person, to find immensity in apparent things, even trivial for someone, in a single constant - in the face of a young girl, which enables to strengthen the effect of diversity and integrity of the image, re-collecting decomposed consciousness of the viewer. His manner interlaces reflections, that he absorbed from painting of classical Dutch artists, well-known and loved by our audience. First of all - Jan van Eyck, further Petrus Christus, Rogier van der Weyden and, finally, Johannes Vermeer. But only in some works a number of symbolic features set an ironic mood. Traditional and modern details are twisted together: whenever it is a plastic bag or towel with a manufacturer's label instead of silk turbans from authentic Dutch portraits. This kind of detail is decisive in his interpretation. However, these details, such as foil on the girl's head or toilet paper, made in a turban, perhaps, are dominant, but also - clever tricks to attract attention. But further, it would be left behind, just as a detail. Then we dive into the abyss of her timeless look that seems to penetrate through centuries to reach us. This is a manifestation of the incredible courage to resist the artificiality of the world and to increase focus on the eternal - the poetry of life, elevating the soul.
We should draw a line, noting how successfully has the author created a new level of portrait photography bringing it to the highest monuments of the Northern Renaissance. It could also be fairly assumed that the Artist has masterfully embodied the most difficult idea of the revival of the tradition, and not by using old visual themes, but by creating a new approach to the interpretation of the old features, some kind of transformation into contemporary art. Why do we think this way? The reason is Studium introduced by Rolan Bartov. Someone who repeatedly saw the works of famous Flemish artists has intuitively worked out a certain collected image of paintings, seen earlier, in his mind. The image composed of a folded chain of scenes and portraits, which is metabolized in the memory. This image consists of range of colors, balance between light background with contrasting spots of clothing or, conversely, dark background with bright parts, pale skin, refined face, and, of course, everything else relating to visual perception. The image of such composite and meaningful weavings, like animation, instantly, as an inspiration, arises when you first look at Kerstens' works. Memory summarizes everything that has been seen before, it correlates with what we see now, but does not tell anything specific. It's just a Studium, elusive, undetectable sensation, which is hidden from the viewer, but it attracts by its magic power. So, a viewer who is faced with the visual row, will be able to easily identify and feel a direct, specific and subtle touch from the classical works, that is certainly so inherent to art works of Hendrik Kerstens. Light, pose, hats or other artistic detail, they just help us to achieve the goal, but they are, as mentioned above, not essential. The main thing in his works - is this sensible approach with the help of which such works are born.
To extend this pathway, starting from the Flemish painters, it is necessary not only to feel the art of that time, but also to have a good knowledge of it, and certain talent not only to complement what has been already said, but also to create a new branch to a huge tree of traditions. And that is a titanic and complicated goal, requiring tremendous efforts. All the magical strength comes from the delicately revealed portrait that borders on reality and dream and takes us deep into the humanistic ideals of the past. Makes you think. Dream. Wish.
To conclude, we can compare Kerstens' works with expensive wine. When store shelves are filled with a low-grade product or even with cheap counterfeits, there are only a few true fans not to be deceived, who spend a lot of time and effort to find a masterpiece and truly enjoy the present delicious taste.
The same is with photography art. One should abstain from tasteless influences of the modern media environment in order to see and perceive works of art, to give more time to the remarkable examples of a spiritual nature, aimed at the revival of the humanist traditions of the past, that is so lacking today. Such as the works of Hendrik Kerstens.
Special review for http://www.perspectiva-art.com/ 2012