Willem Verburg

Painting is just one aspect of Willem Verburg’s (Mijdrecht, 1967) artistic practice, and even within that medium, he draws on a wide variety of styles, approaches, and visual elements. His paintings can be colorful and exuberant, but just as easily monochromatic and subdued. Abstract patterns and swaths of color are combined with magazine clippings and recognizable, highly stylized animal and human figures. Some characters recur time and again: the robot, the crocodile, the superhero, the astronaut. They refer to a world inspired by fairy tales and comic books, where the imagination has been given free rein. Willem works at a rapid pace. He considers this necessary: “I have to stay ahead of my own thoughts. So that afterward you feel: ‘Hey, did I really make that?’ Through my work, I discover what I’m thinking.”

His paintings convey an almost obsessive dynamism, which is kept in check by the application of strict compositional principles. Using visual means, Willem attempts to convey a range of moods and emotions, such as anger and sadness, but also exuberant joy. His paintings are about life, death, and his thoughts on them.