About | Fool's Ecstasy | Galerie Fons Welters

Laurens Stok

Fool's Ecstasy

Galerie Fons Welters - Front Space

11 Mar – 15 Apr 2017

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While in earlier series of paintings Laurens Stok showed a fascination for banality and kitsch, arising from a desire for accessible images, he rather seems to embrace aesthetics in his recent work. The challenge of inspecting an environment that seems to have lost all its value, remains an important incentive. In his new work, Stok performs an undiminished search for the riches of the seemingly simple, of boredom; the simplicity of things. The ordinary. Devoid of overindulgence, or any longing for sensation. His paintings are no dull objects; they are full of colour and sharp lines, already sensational in itself. To Stok this sensation lies within the frame of boredom, engaging him in a game of colour and composition, with the immediacy of paint.

Stok usually works in series, step by step pushing the boundaries of possibilities. While drawing, he encounters elements that may figure as patterns on the 'curtains', which he uses to compose still-lifes as foundation for his paintings. Although the images never become one hundred percent abstract, the most crucial moments in the creative process are those of the artist’s deviation from the real image, only guided by the colour combinations that present themselves.

Text by: Stijn Huijts

Laurens Stok (1983) studied at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht, and De Ateliers in Amsterdam, where he focused on painting. He currently lives and works in Rotterdam. In his earlier work, he has used flower curtains and camper windows to put emphasis on the mundane aspects of his subject. Currently Stok uses still lifes in his studio to get in touch with the objects that he tries to explore by using drawing and photography. Whereas in an earlier stage of his career ‘kitsch’ played a central part in his work, he has now slowly shifted towards a more dedicated approach. His work was recently part of ‘Prospects and concepts’ at Art Rotterdam 2017 and the ‘Koninklijke prijs voor de vrije schilderkunst 2016’