Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
The colorful paintings of Jan Pieter Fokkens transport us to distant worlds beyond our comprehension. Within seemingly infinite networks of lines, dots, and crosses, he decodes the recognizable to create something unfamiliar.
Each two-dimensional work begins with a photo captured by a deep-space telescope. Despite their photographic realism, “these beautiful images of outer space are not real,” says Fokkens. “They are contrived to show us some utopian sci-fi landscape — as though one could stare at them from a field of grass on a nearby planet. What is real is the sense of wonder they emit.” Colorized to convey depth and scale, such images have already been altered to make impossible sights more easily consumable.
With the aid of custom algorithms, Fokkens further manipulates the “fake pixels” of these images, extracting qualities such as pattern, form, and color. He then hand-paints these abstracted qualities as isolated points on canvas. Despite his methodical process, his paintings honor a romantic sense of beauty and capture the sense of longing and wonder one feels when they look out at the stars.
Inspired by early non-representational art, Fokkens treats his abstractions as a means of manipulating reality. Up-close, they might remind us of modernist paintings by the likes of Seurat or Mondrian. There is movement in the still image – moments within the composition that shift in and out of sight, that obscure and reveal the longer you look. Endlessly generating new experiences of perspective, Fokkens’s paintings challenge our perceptions and allow us to peer into other worlds.
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21st Century and Contemporary American Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Paint, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary American Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Canvas
1930s American Art Deco Vintage Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Paint
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Paint
2010s Pakistani Expressionist Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Glass, Paint, Paper, Wood
1970s American Vintage Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Canvas
20th Century American Post-Modern Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Paint, Wood
Early 2000s Canadian Modern Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Acrylic
Early 2000s American Mid-Century Modern Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Plaster
21st Century and Contemporary American Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Resin, Acrylic, Wood
2010s German Modern Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Paint, Canvas
1950s American Vintage Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Walnut, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary American Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Paper, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Paper, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Jan Pieter Fokkens Paintings
Paper