Johan Abeling

Born: 1953, Netherlands

The utter desolation in Johan Abeling’s paintings creates such a surreal environment that makes his works seem almost fictitious. The artist depicts the vast northern Dutch landscape adorned with trees, houses, gates and boundary walls, with these familiar forms taking on an eerie and uncanny presence within the surrounding stillness.

Abeling is fascinated by the emptiness and silence of these landscapes and continuously tries to reproduce their enigmatic mood. Whilst all the elements depicted are derived from reality, he creates a world that only exists in his imagination. The result is an extensive collection of paintings in which the boundary between observation and invention becomes increasingly ambiguous.

Johan Abeling is a master at using the sfumato method which involves blending tones and outlines across numerous layers of translucent paint to give the appearance of diffused and filtered light. This method was initially used by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century to heighten the eerie atmosphere of his paintings.

"My work is about creating an atmosphere playing with composition and light – the timeless feeling that atmosphere can evoke for me while I’m working. My paintings have their own personalities, their own stories and emotion. One can also see them as a moment of respite in a turbulent world where there is almost no time for contemplation. But there is also a disorienting quality in the quiet."

- Johan Abeling