Bart Drost

An artist always looks for places where he can exhibit his most current works. So does Bart Drost. But what to do with works left behind in his studio, which have never been exhibited? And why not show works of art again and again and again? Simply because they are beautiful.

In LangeHezel46 he presented from December 28 2022 to February 19 2023 some of his bitumen paintings from the period 1988-1990. Old work, but sparkling new for those who haven't seen it before. The paintings hung fresh and cheerful in the room, even though the ravages of time have left their mark on the fragile bitumen paper, the works could be seen every day from the street.

In the early 1990s, Bart Drost iss very busy in his studio in Nijmegen. One painting after another emerges from the bitumen paper. It can't end! Yoy all over. Playful and occasionally somewhat mischievous, Drost brushes his hares, ladybugs, castles, flowers, dogs, horses, birds, boys and so on with the very fleeting jet black on the paper and then colors the images with acrylic paint. One after another...

When Galerie Witteveen in Amsterdam offeredshim a solo presentation at the KunstRAI in 1994, he covers with roughly 100 bitumen paintings measuring 65 x 65 cm. the walls of the stand from top to bottom and from left to right. More than 20 of these paintings are now - almost 30 years later - lying on the table of LangeHezel46.

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