About
About Josephine Rutten
Josephine Rutten (Venray, 1950), St. Joost Artschool (Breda, 1974)
Numerous exhibitions, solo and group, in The Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany, France. In private collections and public institutions. Paintings (mixed media, oil on canvas), bronze sculptures. She works in her studios in Amsterdam and in the French Provence.
Textures have a strong role in Josephine Rutten’s work. What intrigues her to work with are surfaces, skinlike stretches, scratches on a tar seal, an acre of ploughed land with a quality of its own. She takes inspiration from such natural materials: earth, for example or animal hides – but she also works with wild imaginary textures that have no natural equivalent.
She will focus on a minute, common detail such as the ground under one’s feet, but also zooms out to view the wide open spaces that surround us. There is no judgemental aspect to her painting, no moral stance. The spectator and their emotional reaction to her painted work is a private affair.
Her painting is known for its layered application of unusual colours, used in different techniques: e.g. crayon, chalk, charcoal, sand besides oil- and industrial spraypaint.
In her sculpting too, surface is an important element, as she may paint the bronze or give it the appearance of cardboard or bubble plastic. Again: there is no mercy for the material, there is just expression. In the three dimensions of sculpting one sees a human figure, caught in the action of something small like enjoying themselves.