ARTIST

Patrick de Louwere (The Netherlands, 1971) is an artist who makes drawings, etches, paintings, photographs, and objects. Trained and working as a professional architect and designer, he is fascinated by the exploration of spaces and borders as abstract definitions, using hand-crafted unprecise techniques.

The items I would never part with are my sketchbooks. There are piles of them, small Moleskin books with ideas, they are a mirror image of my thinking and a great source for lost thoughts.

My personal signifiers are blue jeans and a crisp white shirt, you can’t go wrong. White and blue are the colours that work for me. I am a big fan of the classical sailor top in white and blue stripes, the French call them Marinière Méridien. It is a great reference to the work of Daniel Buren, the French minimalist artist.

The last meal that truly impressed me was during a recent visit to a Japanese restaurant in Singapore a surprise from my partner. The Japanese have absolutely mastered the combination of elegance and taste, it’s creativity on a special level. At home I prefer to eat simple and honest food celebrating the ingredients, going out there is a different expectation.

An unforgettable place I’ve travelled to in the past year is WA (Western Australia). The red earth and the naked landscape with a blue sky has made a lasting impression on me.

The last music I streamed was Entre eux deux by Melody Gardot and Philippe Powell, soothing jazz for late afternoon and evenings. Jazz is the perfect after work music, in the studio it is primarily classical music. Bach especially gets me in a state of flow, I lose track of time very easily playing his Brandenburg Concertos or Magnificat.

The last item of clothing I added to my wardrobe is a pair of white Converse shoes with a very controversial fluorescent green band around the sides.

My favourite website according to my browser history is the New York Times. But I prefer to read books for information and inspiration.

The last book I have read was written by Diogenes Laërtius: “Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers”. A brilliant look into the lives of the wise men who have laid the foundation of modern science. The writings of these marbled men with beards, these first brushstrokes of cosmology, have inspired me to create Au Planétarium Coloré on show in Milan in June this year.

The podcast I’m listening to is The Origins Podcast, hosted by Lawrence Krauss. Particularly the episode with Stephen Fry is worth mentioning, it covers a variety of topics from Greek myths and language to AI and technology. The project is an offspring of the Origins Project Foundation celebrating knowledge, sceptical inquiry, and creativity. Topics close to heart.

If I weren’t an artist, I would be a cook. I love being in the kitchen trying to elevate humble products into a pleasing meal for my family or guests. Cooking is creating but more down to earth, closely linked to my pastoral dream of living more autonomous and closer to the land(scape).

If I didn’t live in Singapore, the city I would live in is Paris. Before Singapore, I lived in London and before that in Rotterdam. Paris used to be around the corner, I would drive there for a weekend leaving home early afternoon on Friday. Paris elevates the mood as no other city can. The rich history, the food, the incredible museums, and galleries… I can’t wait to go back.

WORK

My alma mater is Delft University of Technology, I was trained as an architect. I have never received any formal education as an artist, but always been using my hands and head simultaneously. During my studies I have been very fortunate to have met the late Kees Vollemans, writer and professor of art history at Delft University and himself an artist. He taught me how to look at art. He was an enigmatic person and a great storyteller, and I was part of a select group of students who he had taken under his wing. For years we toured museums, held endless discussions and on top he supplied us with books. I was very lucky.

I made my first pieces of art about 25 years ago, drawings on paper with Chinese black ink. I got fascinated by permeable structures and developed a black and white language with its own syntax of overlapping networks and repetitive structures made with strokes or small movements that generate larger objects or images. I still make additions to this series; it has become my own peculiar fine motor skill. We have used some of the structures for a collection of rugs for Studio Lawrence, Reflections in Ink.

The paintings, photos and prints arise from my determination to create. From a very young age I have worked with my father, restoring, and building houses. It is in my DNA to make or create. My father, he is almost eighty now, still goes to the carpentry workshop every day to work. He taught me to be to endure, see the world through your own eyes and always be curious.

My work is always about an unpredictable outcome using the same starting point. According to Albert Einstein it’s insane to: “Do the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” It works for me.

The artists that inspire me most at the moment are Josef Albers for his continuous, almost scientific approach to art and his efforts in trying to explain his theories in writing. And Marcel Duchamp for his agility, the diversity of his work and the awe-inspiring universes he has created e.g., boxes as miniature museums.

My latest work is about the evolution of a novel universe, very exciting!

“Au Planétarium Coloré” is an expanding colourful universe against the backdrop of our natural world. It builds upon earlier work exploring physical phenomena, for example “Horizons, 2020”. A large three-dimensional constellation will be unveiled at the Salone del Mobile in Milan June 2022 and other works be published on this website.