We welcome you to "Down The Woods You Be Mine" with the Dutch artist Hans van der Ham. Join us for this solo exhibition and celebrate the launch of "Con Anima", an in-depth monograph published by Jap Books, with generous support from the Mondrian Foundation.
“Con Anima" covers the recent years' work of the artist's oeuvre.
When asked directly about the meaning of a particular painting, Hans van der Ham avoids giving a definitive definition. His work explores the freedom of thought, with each canvas standing on its own rather than representing a fixed reference.
The studio, with its lofty ceilings and luminous light, is organised into two levels. A steep staircase leads to a mezzanine overlooking the space below. Here, sculptures in plaster, wood, and ceramics—raw, hybrid forms suggestive of mythological beings—stand in dialogue with ethnographic objects collected on his travels, small paintings, books of inspiration, and a piano. Together, they form a constellation that enriches our understanding of his diverse artistic practice.
The archetypes in Van der Ham’s figures confront us with earthly fragility and the collective recognition of solitude. However, for the artist, this solitude is not a burden but a fertile ground for transformation where unconscious impressions quietly surface on canvas, lending meaning to the solitude that surrounds us all.
While his work might be linked to the tradition of Art Brut or Outsider Art, such terms do not fully capture its contemporary relevance. More significant affinities appear with Markus Lüpertz and Die Jungen Wilden, or more locally, with contemporaries such as Emo Verkerk and Marlene Dumas, artists who ground painterly tradition in psychological and existential depth.
