In the lead-up to Art Cologne, Contradictions in Similarity explores the visual connections between the works of renowed Dutch post-war artist Gerard Verdijk (1934–2005) and Australian First Nations artists.
Verdijk is celebrated for his abstract works that emphasize balance and meditative spaces, influenced by his exposure to Japanese philosophy in the early 90s. This online exhibition highlights visual parallels between Verdijk’s serene, minimalist works and Indigenous Australian art. Aboriginal artists like Rover Thomas and Paddy Bedford, who paint abstract expressions of ancestral creation stories, developed their style independently from Western traditions. Despite vast cultural differences, Verdijk’s paintings share a striking resemblance with these Indigenous works, illustrating art’s universal language and mystical connection across diverse cultures and eras. resonating in the contemporary art world.
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Press release
Gerard Verdijk (1934 - 2005), the post-war Dutch artist best known for his abstract works on paper and canvas, was an integral member of the Dutch art scene throughout his extensive career. Verdijk started in the late fifties with paintings and drawings that can be considered informal art. Art that arises from the material of the paint – sometimes mixed with plaster, sand or textile – and a very spontaneous way of painting.
After his travels to Japan in 1991 and 1992 and his introduction to the Far East body of thought, Verdijk focussed on finding the perfect balance in the space that is occupied – sometimes on an almost empty sheet. Following this path his drawings and paintings became poetic and meditative, sometimes almost unfathomable.
These almost mystical paintings, although stemming from completely different backgrounds, share stunning visual similarities with the indigenous Australian artworks presented in this exhibition. The Contemporary Australian First Nations art movement formed completely away from the Western tradition. In 1971, at a remote government settlement in Australia’s Northern Territory called Papunya, a group of elderly Aboriginal, urged on by Geoffrey Bardon, a white schoolteacher, started painted designs from ancestral creation stories onto boards. This indigenous art, of course, had existed in various forms for most of the 60,000 years of Aboriginal life in Australia — and is thus the oldest unbroken art tradition in the world. But the imagery wasn’t preserved on any permanent holders until it all started in Papunya in 1971.
These works show abstract interpretations of “The Dreamtime,” or “Tjukurrpa,” , which is the Indigenous tribal narrative about the world’s creation by ancestral beings. So coming from completely different walks of life and cultural backgrounds we are amazed to find extremely similar visual details. Especially when comparing the works by Rover Thomas and Paddy Bedford, two artists from the Kimberly in Western Australia, with the serene 90’s paintings by Gerard Verdijk.
Rover Thomas, one of the first indigenous Australian artists to gain recognition by the mainstream global art market, was annoyed when he came across a painting in a museum by Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko: “‘Who is that bugger that paints like me,’” (Rover Thomas) Until his death in 1998, Thomas painted muted, earthy color fields, such as Wati Kutjarra, which is in the online exhibition. The layers of silent background, monotonous in colour, only to be separated by few simple details, often again monotonous in colours are very similar to the paintings by Verdijk, such as Moving Up and Different Greys. Two artists, separated in space, time and background, but creating art with the same poetic brushstrokes and use of colour.
It illustrates the mystical tendencies and language of art that crosses all borders and cultures.
