Andries Boertien
Human goings-on. That’s what I draw.
I try to fill my portraits and figures with emotion. They are usually weak people. People locked in themselves, caught up in their own thoughts and feelings. They look straight at you. The viewer feels torn, lurching between disgust and pity. There is a sense of discomfort in the situations in which the figures find themselves. They seem unable to get closer to each other.
On their own accord, absurd elements creep into my drawings. They are an inherent part of my signature, an expression of my joy in drawing. They can cause laughter but they also serve to reinforce the discomfort and loneliness of the figures.
For me drawing is a form of wakeful dreaming. I don’t always have it under control. It is a fusion of directing and being directed by the drawing itself. Drawing is also a game. I create a world in which anything is possible. As an artist, I was probably born with this need.
And if the drawing does not work out, I do not give up that quickly. I paste, I cut or I use other materials. I put it away and take it out again. Eventually I will bring the drawing to a good end.
Personal details
Andries Boertien
Meloenstraat 35
2321 GX Leiden
06-27 53 34 39
Soon after teacher training and teaching Dutch, I started working at a publishing house in Amsterdam where I was responsible for the design of all the graphics. From 2005 to 2010 I attended the De Nieuwe Akademie art academy in Utrecht.
Exhibitions
2018 Fris (fresh), exhibition of new members of ARS, Leiden
2018 Kunstroute Leiden
2016 Amsterdam, launch of the first issue of the magazine PLUK – de oogst van nieuwe vertalers (the crop of new translators), design and illustrations
2015 Gemeentemuseum of The Hague, Summer Expo theme Woest (ferocity), two works
2015 Kunst op vijf Gallery, Coevorden, duo exhibition, Uit het hoofd (by heart)
2015 Presentation on Niji Art website
2010 De Hulk Gallery, Almere-Haven, artist in residence for three months
2010 Corrosia! Expo Almere, Jonge aanwas (young emerging talent)
2009 World Art Delft, group exhibition
2009 Junushof, Wageningen, solo exhibition, In limbo
2009 Kniphorst bookshop Wageningen, group exhibition
2008 BG 22-25 Almere, solo exhibition, Tekeningen aan de wand (drawings on the wall)