New Artist Watch Feature at Escape Into Life

Hansa (Hans Versteeg), The Girl with a Fake Pearl, 2018

Oil on Canvas

46.5 cm x 40 cm

 

© Hansa Versteeg 

PLEASE DO NOT COPY IMAGE

 

I am especially delighted to showcase work by the painter Hansa (Hans Versteeg) of Amsterdam in this month's Artist Watch column at the international online arts magazine Escape Into Life. 

Hansa first came to my attention in 2019 when I saw a photograph of his Madonna del Mare Nostrum ("Our Lady of the Mediterranean" Or, "Cloak of Love") featured in a visual meditation at the site ArtWay, which referenced a series of contemporary "Art Stations of the Cross" of which the Madonna was Station 1. Hansa's participation in 2017 in  the religious biennial exhibition "Art in the Holy Triangle" in Oosterhout, which was followed by the artwork's inclusion in the Amsterdam "Stations" exhibition, marked a turning point for him, prompting him to change his vision of art and to concentrate almost solely on "socially committed" work.  

Today's new Artist Watch column presents a selection of images of Hansa's exceptional paintings, as well as his Artist Statement and a brief biography. Hansa's newly published book, 'Compassionism': Poetic Contemplations, co-authored with art historian and curator Aniko Toth, bears the image of the iconic Madonna. The book, which articulates Hansa's perspective on art as a means to "think through emotion" and raise awareness of complex social problems, is available through Galerie 44, where Hansa's next exhibition will take place, beginning April 16.