About Herman Stel
Herman Stel (1959) born in the Netherlands is a autodidact when it comes to his painting. Contrasts in shapes and colors, faces drawing inspiration from childhood always. After the millennium, I began again with drawing and painting. First, animal figures and I later added the series of portraits. This style, inspired by the desire to do something with emotions, people and faces, I combined with the colorful style that I’ve painted. I work a lot with our eldest daughter Jorien, also an artist. She makes beautiful forms of paper art.
We exhibit together in galleries, mainly in the Netherlands but also in Copenhagen and Belgium in 2015. From 2016 until now I have an exhibition at the Fusion Art Galleries, the Urbano arthotel in Miami Florida and participate at the Art Basel. Next to that, I am in Key West Florida represented by the Gildea Art Galleries and now at the Basel House in Tampa. Also, I am invited to exhibit at the National Art Contest in the Netherlands and I invited to take part at the Other Art Fair in London in 2018. Recently I entered into an agreement with the Carré d’artistes with various galleries around the world. My work will be there at the end of 2018. In addition, along with 8 artists, From july 2017 I am also was a gallery owner of a gallery (Salon West) in Amsterdam, where we are also looking for more international collaboration with other artists and galleries. In 2017 I coordinated together with my daughter the biggest pop-up gallery in the Netherlands with an area of 2500M2. I regularly sell international work o.a to America. I notice that my work is getting attention and therefore begins to emerge international interest.
Artist statement, Look good again
In our hilarious and individualized society, it is increasingly about visualization and appearance. In the use of social media and in the changing role of the TV you can see this increase. There are more and more apps that only work with footage, and in advertising it often only affects the appearance. We often forget that this is the outside and easily goes beyond the underlying story. My art is a call to also pay attention to the story behind the image. I therefore create great glamor-like portraits in which expression plays an important role. My paintings are a call for us to realize that there is more than quitting the outer shine and the beautiful exterior we would like to leave. Look good again and realize that there is often a wonderful story behind them.
The portraits I create are characterized by a coloration of bright and intense colors which I combine this with emotion and expression of the face. My work consists of figurative art, portraits I call itself as a mix between the forms of pop art and color use of street art. Sometimes I’m inspired by famous person but I almost always looking for something interesting in the expression. I plan the composition and colors but let me inspiration while painting a not fixed color palette, this creates intuitive and makes the connection with the emotion that I try to explain in the image. People and intuition play an important role in my life and are a major force in my work. Life itself inspires me. We ourselves are pieces of many emotions between joy and sorrow. I try to pack them in color and form into a portrait. In each work I find a part of myself. Portraits attract the attention of people and always make fun conversations and reactions. A painting is I feel successful when people are “caught” by the combination of the emotion and the intense color palette.