Interview with Christian Van Minnen for beinArt by Lana Gentry.
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Without being too cliché, these paintings are the sum of what I am; all of my passions, problems, hate, love and desire spilling out through the restraints of medium and concept. ~ Christian Rex Van Minnen
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Heralded as the modern Arcimboldo, Christian Rex Van Minnen makes his way into the art world armed with old world execution, and warm colors of bittersweet chocolate and burgundy velvet. Perfect composition and color serve only as thin veils which barely distract from the dripping hordes of redundant flesh and undecipherable realms of deformation. The new king of Neo-Grotesquism springs forth with a fiery vengeance, offering beautiful reconstructions of hideous fungus, tumor-like protrusions, and flora and fauna, all married into modern yet simultaneously archaic portraiture. Enter a world where ugliness and beauty merge as one, challenging the narrow definitions of both. This is the world of Christian Rex Van Minnen.
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LG~ You are often compared to Giuseppe Arcimboldo in the sense of your taking unconventional objects or abstractions, and formulating portraits of beauty. I see distinct differences as well of course. You are in fact, more smooth and fluid in your style of execution. The abstract as well as realistic objects used in the formulation of your portraits are also concretely more grotesque unto themselves than were the objects generally used in the works of Arcimboldo. Tell us how you decide what objects or images to use in your unconventional portraits.
CVM~ I don’t really have a plan so much as conceptual and proportional restraints when beginning a painting. Any form or content in any painting is the result of an initial abstract compositional-grissaille that slowly ebbs and flows between darkness and lightness, abstraction and figuration, eventually becoming form and, consequently, content. Drawing from that raw information in the paint I embellish the biological forms I see as well as allowing aspects of the painting to become more representational and/or abstract. I began utilizing the method of automatic drawing early and when I learned to paint it became a more fluid, changing process. All of the objects and space within a painting are the result of this construction and deconstruction process, watching the paint, pulling and pushing light in and out of the raw information on the canvas. When a painting is far along, the abstractions of its origins are buried and revealed in the subsequent forms. The forms are mimicking both nature and the truth of the paint itself.
LG~ I'm aware that you sometimes lay down abstractions first, then expound upon existing shapes, once rendered. Was this also true of the 'Keyhole Series' which seems so organized? In other words, was this series a bit more thought out before execution than the rest?
CVM~ The abstractions are technically informed and executed within the larger conceptual framework of portraiture or still-life geometrics The Keyhole Series were a bit more thought out only in that the silhouette cut-out, or anterior panel was borrowed from famous historical portraits and superimposed atop the posterior panel after it was completed utilizing my usual process. I left much to chance in terms of finally combining the silhouette cut-out/anterior panel to the posterior panel. Within the Keyhole Series, much of the posterior panel of the painting is partially or totally obscured by the front panel and changes as one’s perspective changes. I executed the first series of Keyholes by painting the rear panels first and switching around the front silhouette’s until I found compositions that were agreeable yet somewhat disconnected and obtrusive in respect to the posterior panel. The conventional geometry of the still-life genre parallels portraiture in some ways allowing the two images to communicate and become harmonious.
LG~ I see an influence of archival botanical work in your earlier images, which differ some from your more grotesque examples of portraiture. I also see this in some works in the ‘Keyhole Series’. Was there a time when you were more conventional in your execution of old world botanical imagery?
CVM~ No, the botanicals are a newer element to my work. I had previously resisted such representational forms, however, at times giving in to those desires. As I worked through the first 'Abstract Figurative' series that dealt exclusively with portraiture, I began to allow for more abstracting of the contents within the stable pyramid and centric sphere of the portrait, pushing the ‘sitter’ into the realms of the preternatural. The initial brushwork would determine the outcome of the painting so I started employing counter-intuitive, gestural brushwork to, well, destroy the possibility of recognizable human forms within the framework of the portrait. Creating a diversity of line, shape, color, texture and value in the initial abstraction led to a more diverse range of forms, including botanicals, fungi, and occasionally man-made materials such as clothing, as the painting moved from abstraction to figuration..
LG~ Your works seem to wax and wane between being somewhat disturbing and also occasionally comical, as is the case with your interesting character in Mickey Mouse ears. Was there a preconceived sense of narrative in this portrait or was it free flowing and spontaneous?
CVM~ I suppose there is a preconceived narrative in that I had set up this conceptual framework of portraiture to work within, inevitably resulting in a portrait that operates the way a portrait is intended. The specific geometry of Abstract Figurative 2.3 gave it a demure, slightly stoic nature, a sort of attitude simply due to the geometry of the ‘sitter’ in relation to the proportions of the canvas. The general shape of the hat was there in the early abstract under-painting and I realized right away that I had the dilemma of suppressing and destroying this provocative and loaded image, or allowing it to stay through to the end. In the end, it seemed fitting and I left it. I’m still not quite ok with it and I know that decision will haunt me and I will have to live with it.
LG~ Has your classification changed after becoming fully immersed in the art world, or did you ever really classify yourself beyond the title of being figurative? If so, what is your own personal view of your primary classification as a painter…or is there one?
CVM~ This is a tough question. Without being too cliché, these paintings are the sum of what I am; all of my passions, problems, hate, love and desire spilling out through the restraints of medium and concept. My drawings, paintings and sculpture are completely process driven and what you see in the end both conceals and reveals that process. I suppose having entered the public realm I have agreed to be classified, but I don’t know if I want to do it myself! Everything I do is deeply personal and I put everything I am into my work, good and bad. I would say that my actual painting process is not entirely unique and is indeed classifiable; abstract, automatic, figurative, etc.. The recent classification of ‘Neo-Grotesque’ is also applicable here, but only accounts for, like the other classifications, a part of the process as a whole.
LG~ Your ManFungus Series’ leads one to wonder if you had specifically envisioned a significant relationship between the two, or was the idea merely provocative and off the cuff?
CVM~ My intention is never to be provocative for the sake of being provacative.. Similarly, it is not my intention to be didactic in addressing, for example, the relationship between fungus and man. The resulting images can be provocative, but that is not the end in mind when I paint. The ‘Manfungus’ series was a part of the larger body of work where I was working within the conceptual framework of portraiture and pushing it away from human form. There was a point in that series where I began seeing the ‘sitter’ of the portrait as a sort of pile o’ life with all of the beauty and decay inherent in the cycles of life. The fungus element, like the botanicals, comes from the initial brushwork and the implied narrative follows. The shape of fungus, with or without me, has it’s own connotations and inherent meaning.
LG~ I have noticed that your works are generally untitled and I have wondered if this was based in any specific aversion to such, or do you deem it unnecessary as a concept ? (…not to lead the witness here.)
CVM~ I get into a lot of trouble for this and I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t put a lot of thought into titling works. I attribute very little importance to titles and I think at best, they diminish the potentiality of the experience between viewer and painting. I am inconsistent and that pisses people off; I’m sure this will come back to bite me in the ass eventually. I am trying to find a solution to this problem beyond titling every painting ‘untitled.’ I used the 1.1, 1.2, method to simply catalog each piece in relationship to the body of work from which it was created as I usually work in series of 5-10 paintings at a time. In a way, I don’t like the post-rationalizing nature of titles.
LG~ Do you see yourself remaining on the path of unconventional portraiture as your main manifestation of creativity in the future, or do you give any thoughts to such projections?
CVM~ My work has changed fairly regularly and evolved fluidly from year to year so honestly, I don’t know. My work seems to change when I move and recently that’s been about every 6 months to a year. I have been trying to make sense of why portraiture has become such an inspiration recently and moreover, why the grotesque’s dual nature of beauty and horror has been pervasive in my work for years. I am looking back to genres like portraiture and still-life painting as I try to get some perspective on what it means to be alive, today, here. I am personally very concerned with my own Americanism and my family’s cultural legacy. Like many Americans, and for that matter people in general, my family is spread out over the world and our history and cultural legacies are blurred, and often repressed into shadowy, dank and dark places. We want to ignore this stuff and move ‘forward’ but hiding and repressing the shadow aspect of ourselves, both individually and collectively, is dangerous and toxic and in time will resurface in all sorts of horrific manifestations. I have experienced a lot of violence, racism, hate and depression in my life and that is inseparable from who I am and the art I make. Feelings of shame, guilt, anger and longing are coupled with pride, beauty and legacy and all are embedded in my understanding of heritage and identity. I feel like I am here to deal with these issues as best I can to obtain real peace and serenity in my life. I know other people want the same thing.
LG~ It must be quite a feeling to find yourself associated with the likes of Roq La Rue Gallery. Tell us on the whole about this impressive explosion of interest in your work and about what you believe led up to it.
CVM~ I definitely fell into the good graces of some great people and it has been empowering to start to have people supporting me and my work. I have to work two full-time jobs to launch my professional art career, you know? Burning the candle at both ends is the only option at this point and I have come to realize that, like the law of compound interest, you won’t see the results of your investments until well into the future. Everything that is happening now is the result of efforts begun years ago.
I started showing my work in collectives and smaller galleries in Denver in 2004 and have worked really hard since both in the studio and outside the studio in terms of marketing, networking and exhibiting my work. Jon Beinart was one of the first people who stood behind my work really early on (2005?) and for that I am forever grateful. Kirsten Anderson, owner of Roq la Rue Gallery, is an amazing gallerist and art dealer and I feel pretty blessed to have been taken under her wing this early on in my career, that’s risk and I deeply respect her vision and work. And, well the elephant in the room is the interworld; the web is an amazing, horrific, beautiful, chaotic, pandora’s box of a tool. I’ve met so many great artists online and have developed great relationships with artists, publishers and galleries all over the world- this has been very empowering. It has changed the way the art world and artists communicate.
LG~ If you could meet one artist past or present, who would it be and why?
CVM~ Argg, one?! Right now I am really fascinated with Otto Marseus van Schrieck. He is not very well known and was a member of the Schildersbendt, a group of Dutch painters in the late 17th century. He painted these quasi-objective nature study/ still-lifes that were totally unique and different from traditional still lifes; they were imbued with a sense of wonder and, I believe, identification with nature and the visceral qualities of biological forms.. His visions are a stage where beauty and horror are harmonious and where nature and mystery are not mutually exclusive. And… just off the top of my head because I can’t leave it at one; George Condo, HR Giger, Louise Bourgeois, Patricia Piccinini, Ryan Riss, David Cronenberg, and Richard D. James of Aphex, aaaaannnd, even though he's not an artist, David Attenborough because I think he’s awesome. Thanks.
LG~….No thank you!! The pleasure was all mine!!
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Christian Van Minnen is one of 50 contemporary artists featured in Metamorphosis 2 (beinArt Publishing).
The large warehouse space was easily filled by an excited crowd, many who came to hear a poetic presentation by Alex Grey and Allyson Grey along with their musical ally Mz. Imani. A thousand inspired eyes were entranced by this engaging and potentized exploration of lives rich with insight and wonder. Flowing from their talk was a long session of performance painting overflowing with visions of a fantastic future.
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