Anita Vermeeren

(NL, 1967), painter| draftsman

Vermeeren grew up in the middle of the Brabant countryside with fallow fields, gardens full of colorful flowers and stately forest landscapes. A statue of nature that changes its face every season. For example in November, when the fields are wet and contain a heavily plowed track. It is reminiscent of the dark landscapes that Vincent van Gogh made in Brabant. And so is the spring blossom or the sunflowers in summer.

Vermeeren depicts the soul of this landscape on canvas, for her it is pure emotion.

Mobili Möbel Gallery

More of Anita’s Vermeeren Artwork

Life & Work: An Interview with Anita Vermeeren

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Piece of text written by art historian , Drents Museum , Annemiek Rens M. A.

Paint is applied in thick layers, removed again, scratched or crushed. Artist Anita Vermeeren fights with material and surface until an image emerges from the mass. An image that is abstract up close, but detailed and powerful at a distance. Although she admits to often being bothered by that mass herself, this way of plodding is inevitable. Vermeeren grew up amid the Brabant countryside (the same municipality where VanGogh was born) with fallow fields, gardens full of colorful flowers and stately forest landscapes.

A picture of nature that changes its face every season. For example in November , when the fields are wet and contain a heavily plowed track. It is reminiscent of the dark landscapes Van Gogh made in Brabant. And of spring blossoms or sunflowers in summer. Vermeeren depicts the soul of this landscape on canvas; for her, it is pure emotion.
She uses a multitude of oil paints and a palette of earthy colors. It makes her canvases heavy and spacious. Landscape, flowers and nature is a recurring theme in Anita Vermeeren’s work. Her flower paintings have become more abstract over the years. She herself says “where I used to be more interested in showing the power of a particular flower, I now state that it is about flowers” You feel that they are flowers, you can almost smell them”.

How did you get started in the business?

Rising

After my training in art arranging, I started exhibiting. A gallery owner became interested and soon took me to leading art fairs in Holland and Germany. Invariably other gallery owners showed their interest and for several years now my paintings have been hanging in foreign galleries, Berlin, Paris, Mikonos.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Nature, where you live?

Scenic perception

I get my inspiration from my close surroundings, nature, the seasons of the year. The flower petals are endless. Always different in tone or color gradient. They have become abstract paintings. The rhythm, pattern and relief is important in these works. You can lose yourself in them. For me, these works always arise intuitively. It goes one way during the process. This is how all my paintings are created.

The field flowers are inspired by my garden. They remain abstract. You can’t see what kind of flower it is. It is perception. That’s also how you get the feeling that butterflies and bees are painted. I want to turn the paint into a flower.

What do you do in your spare time?

Actively engaged

Walking in nature. Visiting museums. Traveling. Reading and listening to podcasts.

But really, my free time spills over into my work, or vice versa. Being an artist is a part of my whole being, who I am. Unconsciously, you’re always working on that, all the time. My way of perceiving is always “on.” Almost daily in the morning I go to my studio, a former school building that we own. So I literally have a lot of space to work. Sometimes I also work at night when I have inspiration.

EXHIBITIONS

Besides the landscape and flowers, the portrait is also a recurring theme in the work of Anita Vermeeren. The question of what you can depict in a portrait fascinates her: portraits can touch and raise questions. They are, as it were, an interaction between the viewer and the person portrayed. But they also enter into a relationship with the artist herself. When Vermeeren has a series of her frescoes with prophets in the studio, she feels their presence. The prophets bring wisdom, counsel, and understanding. They are a link between good and evil. When they leave her studio, she literally feels an emptiness and silence.

Charcoal or ballpoint sketches have played an important role in Vermeeren’s work in recent years. These sketches have always been there as a preliminary study, but have grown into an independent medium. They are primary: a powerful base that involves a play of light and dark. One prank provokes the other: it is, as it were, a chain reaction that arises spontaneously without any prior planning. The result comes from the process. You can often see her painting technique in the sketches and vice versa, the drawing drive is part of the paintings. Drawing and painting are powerfully intertwined for Anita Vermeeren.

Exhibition History

2010 - 2020

Annemiek Rens, art historian

2020

due to Corona no solo exhibitions or art fairs.

However, recent new work can be seen at the following galleries:

Gallery Van Loon: Heuvel 4, 5261 EE Vught | NL

Galerie Giardino: Rijksweg 31, Berg en Terblijt | NL

Zandi Gallery: Mommsenstraße 57 |Berlin

Artmundi Gallery: Places des Vosges | Paris

2019

Biennale Brabant | 8 – 24 November 2019 Koepelhal Tilburg | Van Loon Galleries | www.vanloongalleries.com

The Dutch Portrait Competition | September 1 – November 17, 2019 | Slot Zeist | www.portraitprice.nl

Exhibition in the Rijksmuseum ‘Long Live Rembrandt’ | July 15 – September 15, 2019 | Rijksmuseum | www.rijksmuseum.nl

First Art Fair Amsterdam | January 16 – 20 Passenger Terminal Amsterdam | Van Loon Galleries | www.firstartfair.nl

2018

Biennial Veghel | November 30 – December 16 Koekbouw Veghel | Van Loon Galleries | www.vanloongalleries.com

Gallery Zandi | November 9 Berlin |www.galeriezandi.com

Uncommon | July 14 – October 28 Zutphen | Museum Henriette Polak | www.museumazutphen.nl

Gallery Ewa Helena | April 14 – May 26 Hamburg | www.galerie-ewa-helena.com

Art Breda | April 19 – 22 Breepark Breda | Van Loon Galleries | www.artbreda.nl

First Art Fair Amsterdam | January 17 – 21 Passenger Terminal Amsterdam | Van Loon Galleries | www.firstartfair.nl

2017

Biennial Tilburg | November 10 – 26 Koepelhal Tilburg | Van Loon Galleries | www.vanloongalleries.com

Summer Exhibition Berlin | Gallery Zandi | www.galeriezandi.com

Solo exhibition Vught | Van Loon Galleries | www.vanloongalleries.com

KunstRai Amsterdam | May 31 – June 5 | Gallery Project 2.0 | www.kunstrai.nl

Art Breda | 7 – 14 May Breepark Breda | Van Loon Galleries | www.artbreda.nl

Dutch Portrait Prize | April 21 – September 3 Soestdijk Palace | www.portraitprice.nl

2016

Biennial Veghel | December 2 – 18 Koekbouw Veghel | Van Loon Galleries | www.vanloongalleries.com

KunstRai Amsterdam | June 1 – 5 | Gallery Project 2.0 | www.kunstrai.nl

Biennial Vught | May 27 – June 12 Mariakerk & Galerie Vught | Van Loon Galleries | www.vanloongalleries.com

Art Breda | April 10 – 16 Chassé field Breda | Van Loon Galleries | www.artbreda.nl

2015

Biennale Brabant | November 5 – 22 Koepelhal Tilburg | Van Loon Galleries | www.biennalebrabant.nl

Art Nocturne Knocke-Heist | August 6 – 15 Belgium | Van Loon Galleries | www.artnocturneknocke.be

Flowers | June 6 – August 30 group exhibition | participating artists; Eric Bruinewoud, Geert Kollau, Norman Martens, Jeff Rob, Kees Salentijn, Joris van Spaendonck, Anita Vermeeren, Karin van de Walle | Van Loon Galleries | www.vanloongalleries.com

2014

Art Breda art fair | Gallery Mark Peet Visser | www.markpeetvisser.com

Summer Exhibition | Gallery Mark Peet Visser | www.markpeetvisser.com

2013

Open Art Fair | Jaarbeurs Utrecht | Van Loon Galleries | www.vanloongalleries.com

Summer exhibition “Steenware” in Grote Kerk Breda

2012

Studio exhibition Oudenbosch | Van Loon Galleries | www.vanloongalleries.com

2011

Art Fair Westergasfabriek Amsterdam | Gallery van Loon and Simons, Vught

Solo exhibition | Gallery van Loon and Simons, Vught

Modern art fair arti 11 | The Hague | Fokker terminal | Gallery van Loon and Simons, Vught

Participation Biennale in Vught | Gallery van Loon and Simons, Vught

2010

Art Fair ‘s-Hertogenbosch | Gallery van Loon and Simons, Vught

Participation Social Sofa, Knokke | Gallery van Loon and Simons, Vught

2000 - 2009

2009

Christmas Group Exhibition | Gallery van Loon and Simons, Vught

Biennial | Gallery van Loon and Simons, Vught

2007

Solo exhibition | Gallery van Loon and Simons, Vught

Group exhibition March 2007 | Gallery van Loon and Simons, Vught

2006

Oisterwijk Sculpture. Paintings 2005-2006 | Gallery Etienne & Van Loon, Oisterwijk

Group exhibition “Kopf an Kopf”. Mar 19 Apr 30 | Gallery Incontro. Eitorf. Germany

Group exhibition March 19 – April 23 | Gallery Dom’arte. Rucphen/Roosendaal

2005

Solo exhibition May 22 – July 3 | Gallery Incontro. Eitorf. Germany

Salon exhibition. April 24 through July 24 | Gallery Dom’arte. Rucphen

Solo exhibition, Zundert

2004

Solo exhibition | Gallery deGreef & deGreef, Wassenaar

Individual exhibition | Gallery Molenaars, Breda

Individual exhibition | Steel bankers Netherlands

Art Fair Amsterdam | gallery millers

Collective Exhibition | Galerie deGreef, Wassenaar

2003

Art Fair Cologne | Germany | Gallery Millers

Holland Art Fair | The Hague | Gallery Millers

2002

Collective Exhibition | The Markiezenhof, Bergen op Zoom | Gallery Millers

Art Rai Amsterdam | Gallery Millers

Promenade dans l’art d’aujourd’hui | Galerie d’art contemporain. Auvers sur oise, France