“The painting should look like you can think, it doesn't matter what it looks like” (Jaap Kroneman)
Kroneman moved from Arnhem to Brussels about three years ago. As a Dutchman living in Brussels, he resides in a spacious home and studio in the centre of Molenbeek. In recent years, he has worked almost invisibly on a new chapter in his artistic career. With unwavering concentration and a strong work ethic, he has created a series of works, part of which will now be on display for the first time at De Groen. An exhibition of Jaap Kroneman's work is not a straightforward affair. It is not a retrospective exhibition full of art, but rather an exceptionally powerful statement about the phenomenon of “painting”. He does not create work that you can look at with a lazy glance. Looking at this new work is simply hard work for your eyes.
He himself writes: “you must have seen paintings before you look at these”. He does not reassure the viewer with this exhibition. With Jaap Kroneman, you never know. Are these canvases really paintings? In any case, his work transcends the painting with a representation, the painting on which something can be seen. Kroneman takes you into an almost floating, meaningless world described in a meaningless language. Paradoxical? Abstract realism? Trompe-l'oeil without meaning? It's all there.
Kroneman is not the kind of man to please you with his work. If you don't want to work hard with your eyes, don't come and look, then you can at least say: I didn't see it. To everyone else: come along and let your eyes do the work. With this exhibition, Kroneman is taking a master's test on the cutting edge!
