Gerdine
Duijsens’ dining and party scenes have a very recognizable style that can be
distinguished by four main elements: people, lush layers of color, expressionistic
mark making, and portraiture. Duijsens’ people are "bon-vivants,"
somewhat blasé, comical, cheerful, and bored.
Duijsens was born in Utrecht, Netherlands, and studied at the Art
Academy and the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgium. A career in art wasn't part of
the plan initially, but there was no stopping her as time went by. Once the
children had all gone separate ways, she gave way to something deep inside that
she had always known, ever since the days she played hooky while munching on
her sandwiches in art museums. She believes one doesn't become an artist but is
born one.
Duijsens’
work is a synthesis between figurative and abstract art. Her internationally
collected paintings reflect the modern culture of consumerism, the desire to
achieve status, and overindulgence. In their unguarded moments, Duijsens
displays her characters as their vulnerable and insecure selves, when in their
seemingly unobserved moments they briefly escape from a world in which status,
knowledge, protocols, and power keep them prisoner.
Through lyrical expressionism in its purest form, we see
ourselves. The characters are satirical, exaggerated forms and are meant to be
lighthearted and fun. The partying, dining, happy single, and Botox paintings
have become Duijsens’ trademarks and have generated a steadily growing club of collectors
internationally.
