PETER JOHN VOORMEIJ, Through Dutch Eyes, Jan 18-Feb 6, 2005 Elliott Louis Gallery, Vancouver
"Nootka Sound"
Peter John Voormeij, "Nootka Sound," 2004, acrylic on canvas, 20" x 24".
PETER JOHN VOORMEIJ
BRITISH COLUMBIA: Through Dutch Eyes, Jan 18-Feb 6, 2005 Elliott Louis Gallery, Vancouver
By Beverly Cramp
When he first came to Canada from the Netherlands in 1965, Peter John Voormeij was a young man trained in the realist schools of painting. The new forms of art he saw in Montreal and New York City quickly influenced him. “I was totally taken in by what people like de Kooning and Rothko were doing,” says Voomeij. “It really changed me. I began to believe that I could do more abstractly than through realism.” But Voormeij doesn’t regret having a strong foundation in realism. “It’s better to know what you are abstracting from before jumping into it,” he says. Voormeij acquired his Master of Arts degree in painting and printmaking from Concordia University where one of his instructors was the late British Columbia artist, Roy Kiyooka. Voormeij’s characteristically bold coloured canvases usually have strong themes as noted by their titles. “The titles are important because they lead the way into the painting,” he says. Voormeij currently works full time painting although he has taught art classes at the University of British Columbia and Langara College.
Represented by: Elliott Louis Gallery, Vancouver. Eight galleries in the Netherlands also represent Voormeij.
