Weijers, is one of a generation of artists, tackling a large variety of subjects and addressing the significant shifts in paradigms of existence that the collide of culture, nature and technology brings forward. As a basic concept, his work is centered around alteration modes like mutation and transformation and based on perception, expectations, and experiences. His work could be described as a juxtaposition of complexity and simplicity. His work investigates into timeless questions like how movements towards hybridization can free us from the tyranny of anthropocentricism and assist in the development of a brighter future. Weijers explores the ideas of transformation and contradiction. The process of making the work is fundamental to developing a visual language through which he can communicate the feeling of experience to the viewer. His works define and redefine the meanings of process and transformation. Bringing elements of chaos and dissonance into a state of harmony, each work matures into a fully realized presence, with as much intrinsic relevance in today’s world as in the future. As an artist he is constantly searching for diversification to express himself. This search has not only enabled him to create artworks that are unique and relevant to modern trends, but also enhanced his aspiration of being innovative and resourceful, by creating imaginative, thought-provoking pieces. When viewing Weijers body of work, one has an immediate impression of an artist in command of conveying his vision, realizing truth because it is so honest, communicating universally because it embodies us all.
Weijers has found his line in triumphant harmony by combining figures and subjects in like manner with intersecting consistency throughout each piece, allowing the viewer to consume the work as a single image, whole unto itself. His use of coloring populates negative space in a subtle manifestation of form accentuating the power of a mature line. And though there is clarity, still there is mystery as the viewer breaks down and consumes individual components for detail, then again brings them together in relation so that a comprehension of the overall image is readily portrayed.
The multi-disciplinary artist Ron Weijers comments on our everyday (sur)realities while stimulating dialogue and discussion on social and geopolitical issues of our time. In his work he considers the daily absurd - larger than life – (im)possibilities of this world by visualizing the essence, catching the heart of the issue at hand. Within the whole array of different media and ways or approaches to artistic visualisation like music, film, photography, drawing, painting, collaging and assemblage, one can sense a special harmony between the expressed and produced, between the personal and populist, the traditional and modern, the premeditated and intuitive, but also between the physically perceived and spiritually sensed. In a continuous need to disconnect from and to question the existing on the one hand and to discover new perspectives on the other, Weijers is one of those artists constantly questioning the techniques they use, their meanings, their goals, all the while perfectly aware they shall never be any definite answer and that their work is meant to remain empirical. He is not an abstract painter using figuration but a figurative painter who is producing abstraction. His work reflects an understanding of the time which we live where graphic imagery is pervasive in daily life. Yet it employs refined attributes of classicism that recall a period of appreciation for the art of drawing. Weijers has now reached a refinement many artists aspire to archieve and this observer is eager to see what comes indeed. Weijers has been inspired by painters like the Austrian artist Oskar Kokoschka due to his intense expressionistic portraits, the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch whose intense psychological aspects and themes transferred within his work and the Irish-born British figurative painter Francis Bacon, known for his bold, graphic, and emotionally raw imagery.
From the moment Weijers initiates the development of a new concept and project, the first steps he will undertake would be to explore the concept on its values of transformation and contradiction. The process of creating a new series of work is fundamental to developing a visual language through which he can communicate the feeling of experiencing the concept towards the spectator. His works define and redefine the meanings of process and transformation. Bringing elements of chaos and dissonance into a state of harmony, each work matures into a fully realized presence.
During the process of making his works, he de-structs, de-activates, re-constructs and re-activates his materials and handles his work to that of building a relationship: a series of attempts at intimacy with the work, of fallen expectations, of failures and finally, of surrender. It is in the suspended spaces between the swaying of depicted figuration and abstraction, that these worlds take shape. His work acts as a rhythm of color, of possibility, of realization and as a sorting structure through which he generates harmonies within the chaos around him. He translates his creativity and visions into multi-layered works of art that reflect a characteristic abstract language of signs and shapes.
Within his works he intends to reveal a deeper meaning and reflects his views on contemporary issues. By reaching a state of liberation from existing patterns, the interplay of lines is dominated by the metamorphosis which conceals the evaluation of the work from the source. He tends to stimulate the spectator's fantasy and awareness by the intuitive and specific combination of color and shape, thus seducing the spectator towards an alternative view on this world. For the above reasons, he reached a high level of satisfaction with his processes and the techniques involved.
Weijers always chooses to present his work with an overall reliance on his specific linework and forms to give it its distinctive nature. To add emphasis to the desired effect, he relies on his linework as a major element in projecting the emotional content in his works. In addition to that, he emotionally enhances his work with the colors belonging to his mood and mindset. One of the objectives in creating his paintings is in his desire to fulfill an emotional response, rather than focusing on the subject matter. He works with a relentless variety of media and his mixed media applications and interventions, provides a unique surface quality to his work. The textures are derived from carefully selected collected items, which include found objects on any imaginary type.
His calligraphically elaborated, fluid, refined, mature and determined line winds to end up forming an originally modified structure. Figures and elements are thus rendered in their natural state, one belonging to the other with consistent symbolism that allow the viewer a ready grasp of their message quality and orientation. Thereby inviting viewers to consume individual components for detail and to bring them together in relation so that a comprehension of the overall image is portrayed. Complementing the subject matter is a specific color palette that effectively stimulates and suggests the desired mood. Collectively his compositions manifest into a seductive fantasy of an alternate worldview.
Many people associate environmentalism with gloom-and-doom predictions about the planet. While climate change is a serious issue, many artists and other creative individuals are also working on smaller scale green projects that both effect the environment and cause change by sparking discussion and reflection. While the actual direct impact of any given artwork or design may be small the cumulative result of their efforts is palpable and grows bigger with each creative and sustainable design or art project. Mutation & transformation as a concept, is an obvious commentary on consumerism and waste, a theme that is not new. We have all heard that "one man's trash is another mans treasure". That saying takes on a new meaning when we view the world through the eyes of the artist.
The essence at the heart of the ‘mutation & transformation’ series can just as easily cut both ways: Is trash turned into art still worthless? Does it become art because the artist deems it so? The ‘mutation & transformation’ concept could be described as a multi-dimensional transformation of perspective and forms of change with a particular relevance to post-modern culture manifesting as a form of deconstruction. Actualy this is something that could be said of all current expressions of art, where borrowing form and manipulating, is integral to the very concept. The ‘mutation & transformation’ works explore shape-shifting and shocking alteration, intended to provoke and to stimulate dialogue. It seems that everyday objects are transformed into recognisable, but uncomfortable abstracted and altered, versions of themselves.
Weijers travelled large parts of the world and absorbed a multitude of information doing so. This valuable information regularly guides him to arrive at an intricate visual environment that promotes the understanding of the similarity between the issues around culture, history, and environments. He has always been passionate about creating arts and wants to convey freedom, peace, and justice through it. Satisfying his desire that every piece of art he creates will portray the qualities that will enlighten, endeepen and ultimately enrich himself as well as his public. His aspiration is that his art will contribute to the creation of a more conscious world for all to engage and to evolve with. A preserved example of the inspiring impact travelling around had on Weijers, reflects from the 2007 ‘New York Journals’. During his 2007 stay in Manhattan, New York for the photographic project ‘Throw Away your TV!’ and the preparations for his ‘Manhattan Transfer’ publication, Weijers kept a journal on anything that occurred around him and had an impact on him of any kind. Accompanied with a plethora of (pre)sketches for works that would become reality in a later stage. Weijers often referred to his capacity of absorbing his surroundings into some type of inspiration as being a kind of Sponge Bob.
The inspiration for the ‘mutation & transformation’ body of works has been retrieved from the international geopolitical and religious chaos and the newsreel manipulation of this information towards the inhabitants of this world as well as from the reflections and reactions from the surrounding habitat on these issues. The redirection and transformation of this so-called reality information in a more objective manner could be positioned as a general subject and mission within these works. This is an ongoing process and the ‘Mutation & Transformation’ works are filed and catalogued within a variety of series like ‘EnVisual Dialogue’, ‘Sensititivity’, ‘Radical Pacifism’, as well as multiple subdivision series attending specific issues like for instance the ‘Holy Crap’ objects, the ‘All-tar-Ego’ installation object, ‘Elite Sapiens’ series, ‘Headlines’ project, the ‘Consumer Goods’ – ‘Red Meat’ and ‘Smokers Delight’ series and the ‘redrum ARN’ project, reflecting on the mass shootings within the USA and the position of the NRA. Reshaping, reconstructing, destroying, rebuilding, repositioning, rebirth and more of these words, would fit seemless on these processes. Its a process of reconstruction of thoughts and opinions, generating alternate views or visions on the issues manifesting inside his mind and soul.
The ‘Radical Pacifism’ body of work has been developed to reflect on the aversion or antipathy to the use of violence in any form for any purpose. As a conscientious objector, who refuses to fight in any war for moral reasons, Weijers takes active steps to undermine the principal of war within these works and promotes permanent and universal peace. History lessons teached us that important thinkers like the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, the political and spiritual leader of India, Mahatma Gandhi and the Baptist minister, Martin Luther King, amongst others, contributed to pacifist ideology and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom worldwide with their efforts to promote the ideal of peaceable arbitration in the affairs of nations and the creation of an international institution to achieve that.
Reviewing a worldwide climate of inflaming violence and its obvious consequences, laid-back absorbed from a cosy armchair as presented by a large variety of conveniently censored news-broadcasts, Weijers managed to construct a very individual concept and style that is trademarking the ‘Radical Pacifism’ series of works. His visualisation and his philosophy on the ‘Radical Pacifism’ concept, can be enigmatic in parts. Quite often they are deliberately dark and dazzling at the same time and mostly contain a highly potent mixture of symbolism that in his opinion works as an immersion booster. Weijers seems to integrate historical, political, and religious content as effortlessly into his works as walking a very thin semiotic and semantic line alongside a kind of experimental abstract poetry of the moment and his ability to bestow a certain kind of aura on his works. His goal is to transfer his views and thoughts to the public and to stimulate an open dialogue and discussion related to the ‘Radical Pacifism’ concept and works.
For instance, within his ‘Holy Crap’ series, all assemblages are made of discarded goods found in the trash. The works are beautifully constructed with care, even if a closer look reveals its low-cost origins. Some of the objects where once so shiny, new, and easy to acquire, and yet at the same time, so persistent and disruptive. There is a defiant duality of form and materials at play here. Many of the works within this series are intricate and almost delicate and one could review them as a series objects expressing the suggestion to take a stand and face the reality and responsibility in life, guiding deeper into a moral message on a more personal and individual level and interacting on this point with the conscious of the viewer. A mirror called self-reflection if one would want.
By painting over the objects variety of collage constructions and underlayers partly with lucent acrylic white Weijers emphasizes the suggestive character of this under-layer but simultaneously unveils the hollow promise which lurks behind the pretty surface. Diversion methods as those from a stage magician or illusionist, direct the public attention to a particular statement or point, while in the meantime the real deal is out in the open but ignored. On the one hand, the works within this series are nearly all beautifully executed and visually stimulating. On the other hand, an undercurrent of environmentalist self-awareness undercuts subtler points the artist could add to the conversation as well as the underlaying cynical message towards the Roman Katholic church in relation to child-abuse.
Using both satire and social engagement, Weijers created an artistic body of work through his earlier series of mixed media works such as for instance the ‘Covert Ops’ series (2014) and the ‘Pulp Vision’ series (2014). Within the ‘Pièce Unique’ assemblages Weijers critically reflects, hones, and satirizes the political and religious headlines of today, while speculating on making those issues more tangible to a wider audience. Assemblages like 'Coup de Grâce' reflecting on the aftermath of the 2016 coup attempt and the role of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as President of Turkey and 'Souvenir from Fukushima' reflecting on the aftermath of the nuclear disaster at the Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima Prefecture, initiated primarily by a tsunami following the Tōhoku earthquake in 2011. With the assemblage ‘ViewMaster Pollution’ Weijers reflects on his aversion towards the subjective curatorial reviewing within the artworld.
As part of the ‘Radical Pacifism’ project, Weijers developed the installation object ‘All-tar-Ego’ as a stylized altar or shrine shaped object introduced as an All-Religion-Worship-Shrine. The central concept and motiv behind the development of the ‘All-tar-Ego’ installation, puts the spotlight on his conceptual and factual attempt to open- up discussion and stimulate dialogue on the diversities and co-excistance of all specific deities or the religious persona one wishes to identify with for reasons of spiritual growth in relation with their social tolerance. The development of time-sharing worship space over the development of specific religion related shrines, churches, mosques, altars, chapels could positively influence the inter-religious relations within a divided world. The ‘All-tar-Ego’ object is introduced as a sacred dwelling, an all-religion meeting-place for humanity to rediscover its originally shared mystic body.
Within the ongoing ‘Sensitivity’ series, Weijers developed a vast amount of smaller series of works, like for instance the ‘Aerotica Abstractions’, the ‘Flower Power’ series, ‘Munch and Kokoschka unplugged’, the ‘Retrospectators’, the ‘Senza Erotica’ series, the ‘Twisted Minds’ series, the ‘Voodoo lounge’series and the ‘Elite Sapiens’ series that has been developed as a persiflage on Dutch Golden Age portrait paintings of the mercantile class as produced by most of the Dutch master painters in the 17th century. These portraits were amongst the most popular commissions executed in those days. A synchronized persiflage revival of those museum worthy Golden Age portraits from the upperclass society, wearing their distinct ruff collars made from lace as they were commissioned by anyone who could afford them. Weijers offered his audience a 21st century Golden Age persiflage mixed media version. One of the latest additions to the’Sensitivity’series is the ‘Time Capsules’ project. This more extended series of works is an ongoing project to be developed during 2021.
For his participation within the Art/X/Toyama 2018 exhibition in Toyama, Japan, Weijers especially developed a series of ‘mutation & transformation’ works reflecting on the moments leading up to changes that occur in politics, in DNA, in climate, in economy, in religion and many more affiliated issues. Sometimes they are brief, other times they are long processes. In science, they are the movement from one state of matter to another. In nature, they are the graduation from one stage in a life cycle to a different phase. The works he developed for the Art/X/Toyama exhibition reflect on the aftermath of the nuclear disaster at the Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima Prefecture in 2011.
The works depict perverse mutations due to nuclear interference. It appeared difficult to interact with the Japanese officials on the concept of his works on display at that time. ‘Mutation & Transformation’, as a basic concept and it is possibilities to relate to contemporary art processes, has been primary researched, probed and introduced curated by Weijers within the 10dence platform 'Metamorphosis', contemporary transitions exhibition in Ghent, Belgium in 2018. Metamorphosis, transformation, genetical and psychological manipulation, nuclear accidents, mutations and the consequenses, Monsanto Roundup, gentech, global warming and even the effects of robotics on mankind, are just some of the keywords and issues that triggered Weijers in the development of this concept.
The ‘Game Changer’ project puts a focus on the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. In this rapidly changing world, technical capabilities are disrupting how we function. If one wants to be up to date and accepted by ones social or professional in-crowd, just drop the word ‘Game Changer’ on a regular basis. It is hot and used to be just a turning point or surprise, but many strategic think tanks earn their living with future forecasts. But in fact, ‘Game Changers’ are a confession that the future cannot be predicted at all.
The need for a strong and bold statement to manifest the unpredictable within the concept of this ‘Game Changers’ series was born. Matching people’s curiosity with continuous learning opportunities and enabling people to make a difference & re-imagine the (im)possible. Within this new series of ‘Game Changers’ works, Weijers integrates the depiction of abstracted symbolic fantasized individuals containing details pointing out towards the real world, making use of his elaborate and characteristic linework. Its merely the thought that counts withing these works. Reviving the concious and rememberances of the past and pointing out the possibilities to relive this past once again within the near future. Within the ‘Game Changer’ series, the ‘Grotesque’ mixed media works, all bear a collage underlayer based on destructed and re-constructed patterns that have been cutted irregularly and re-assembled from a variety of collected vintage boardgames. The ‘Game Changer’ series consist of 35 works on various sizes. As an ongoing process this series is currently still under development.
In some Native American cultures, a dreamcatcher, or Ojibwe, is the inanimate form of the word for spider. A handmade willow hoop, on which is woven a net or web that often include sacred items such as certain feathers or beads. Traditionally dreamcatchers are used as a protection. Weijers entangles his visuals of dream and nightmares within his typical never ending and all connecting linework, within these works. With the ‘Dreamcatchers’ series, Weijers explores humanity's deep-seated fears and comprehension of its own mortality and reflects on this topic with the visualization of dreams and nightmares. Visualizations about the insecurities around Immortality or eternal life and being exempt from death with an unending existence. Like certain philosophers that have theorized about the immortality of the human body. What kind of form an unending human life would take, or whether an immaterial soul exists and possesses immortality, has been a major point of focus of religion, as well as the subject of speculation and debate. Intrigued by the ‘Dreamcatchers’ concept, Weijers proceeded with the development of the ‘Raw Stories’ series as a follow-up on the ‘Dreamcatchers’ series.
Another installation and series of works called ‘Revival of the Fittest’ express a kind of homage concept towards issues and, artists he respects and probably have a kind of a magnet working on his own struggling processes when it comes to inspiration. The works ‘James Ensor afterparty’, ‘Hommage to Frida Kahlo’, ‘Pollock Dialogue’ and ‘Yelling back at Munch’ are some of this installation series of ten works, highlighting the conceptual essence of this project.
The year 2020 will go down in history as the year in which the world had to cope with the effects of the corona pandemic. Multiple lockdowns and governmental restrictions on social and cultural life, changed our way of thinking, working, and functioning. The Covid-19 outbreak and governmental measures to stop its spread shut down entire societies. It is a time when man is thrown back to the essence of what makes us human, because many of our normal activities are simply no longer feasible. This creates space and opportunities to deal with our values and foundations in a new way. As happened after the plague and later also after the cholera outbreak, it makes us think about the essence of who we are as humans. Culture is indispensable in this process, not as a fun addition, but as an inseparable part of the afore mentioned essence. As a subdivision of the ‘Radical Pacifism’ concept, Weijers developed a series of vessels for his ‘Pièce Unique’ series, ceramixed media recycled earthenware, reflecting in full on the effects of covid-19 on the art practice and overall artworld.
As a kind of resurrection of the horrific decorative kitsch vessels, his recycled ceramixed media earthenware pieces are sideways inspired by the work of the English contemporary artist Grayson Perry, well known for his ceramic vases, tapestries and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "prejudices, fashions and foibles". Like Perry, Weijers’ vessels have classical forms and are decorated depicting subjects at odds with their attractive appearance and the selection of shapes and content for his series of ceramixed media earthenware are generally based on classic kitschy and tacky trash-art decorative vases. Bearing friezes of skulls, viruses as well as more dark and literary scenes, often incorporate references to the Radical Pacifism concept. Weijers uses savage satirical titles and messages alongside sentiments of nostalgia for lost innocence and he feels the urge and need to put sex, violence or politics or any kind of social commentary onto his work. Without it, it would be plain and simple pottery, he states.
During the first Covid-19 lockdown in the Netherlands in 2020, Weijers worked out on a series of images from destructed and abandoned medical facilities, showing a selection of his earlier paintings. This ‘Lockdown in(ter)ventions’ works, one by one appeared on daily basis for several weeks on social media. The darkened impression he intended to transfer with these contradicting images was to reach out towards his surroundings with a positive vibe during that surreal timeframe.
Another body of work Weijers developes is bearing the overall title ‘Serendipity’, spontaneously finding valuable things by chance. One of these newer series of work is the somehow Gerhard Richter inspired, ‘Richter Vibrations’, Lockdown Interventions. While researching usual new angles within his work, it called upon him to investigate a variety of printing techniques and he got intrigued using layers of paint with a silk screen squeegee rubber together with almost uncontrollable relief pressure print layers using a linocut ink roller embossing for instance corrugated carton structures as additional layers. As usual, he applies these interventions on top of a basic collage underlayer.
Equal and connected to the title of this publication, Weijers initiated the international exhibition project ‘Possible (Im)Possibilities’, a retrospective of satisfaction. This monumental exhibition project is based on the collaboration of five collegue artists that explore the borders and limits of their expressiveness and technical possibilities. They pursue the unattainable, reflect on the past to develop an evolution and aspire to achieve ultimate satisfaction within their artistic processes. The pursuit of this - almost indefinable - satisfaction goes hand in hand with a field of tension in which technology, aesthetics, and the urge to innovate must form a new harmony. ‘Possible (Im)Possibilities’, looking back and forward together on their individual contemporary developments and satisfaction in their visual inventions, is the common denominator of the participating artists.
Five masters working with extremely diverse materials, such as metal and glass, fabric and ceramics, fabric and thread, pen and collage, photographic and lenticular printing techniques, who strive to make the possible with their surprising and extremely different processing techniques and advanced technology. and want to show the impossible. Alexander Ketele (Belgium), Sophie Papiau (France), Akiko Suzuki (Japan), Frans van Viegen (the Netherlands) and Ron Weijers (the Netherlands) are in essence researchers and creative inventors, addressing a wide variety of topics and the significant shifts in the paradigms of existence brought about by the collisions of culture, nature, and technology. The monumental exhibition project ‘Possible (Im)Possibilities’, a retrospective of satisfaction, will be on display in the beginning of 2022 at Pulchri Studio in The Hague in the Netherlands.
Weijers and 10dence platform are widely affiliated and involved within the international art community within networks like for instance GAP (Global Art Project), HAF (High Art Fridays), Inspirational Magazine, ARA (Artist-Run Alliance) and ArtWall. Global Art Project GAP is an international mixed-media collaborative collective, promoting the creative intelligence of the global arts community toward the necessarily collaborative future. GAP is a group of international artists working in various media, promoting collaboration, experimentation and mutual development of art practice so far organized meetings and exhibitions. GAP is an international, multi-cultural, multi-national, pan-ethnic conglomerate. High Art Fridays (HAF) is an eclectic US based international assembly of artists working in a wide range of materials and iconographic ideas brought together in an inclusive network. Inspirational Magazine is a monthly arts magazine featuring contemporary art and artists from across the planet in a wide range of disciplines through interviews and portfolios. Artist Run Alliance is a non-profit platform mapping and connecting independent artist-run initiatives. ArtWall is an international contemporary arts presentation platform mainly operating on social media. Weijers is also a member of the art foundation Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam. Arti et Amicitiae is a Dutch artist's society founded in 1839 in Amsterdam. The Society has played a key role within the Dutch art scene and specifical the Amsterdam art schools. It is a private institution which supports artists and to this day it is a respected hub for artists and art lovers in the city of Amsterdam.
