Interview met Marie Aly

Lesula (2013), oil paint on wood, 43 x 33 cm

Untitled (2014), oil paint on canvas, 130 x 95 cm

Ha Marie, welke werken van jou zijn er straks in de tentoonstelling te zien?

I am showing several portraits from the last 2 years: Lesula, Lev, Raban and Untitled. My paintings originate from a process where intuition is the most important precept, and in which the image pushes itself forward during the act of painting.

I find concrete incentives and themes to start painting in magazines, on record covers or in other media. Formal principles, such as colour and composition, just like the content, which implies a specific subject, further determine the development of the image.

The fact that I don’t make any sketches, means my paintings have a history of many painterly layers and decisions, of thick lines and details carried out to extremes, a history of possibilities and impossibilities.

Jezus Freak (2010), oil on canvas, 60 x 50 cm

The characters, who I portray, or places in fictitious, dreamy landscapes derive from the world of high and low culture, from art history, or from my own everyday environment. I am fascinated by icons and their faithful resemblance. They are more of an unworldly vision of its being. It is not just the religious tradition, which intrigues me, but it is particularly the fact that iconic images – including our contemporary icons – function as substitutes for the divine.

Wat betekent schilderen en de schilderkunst voor jou?

I consider myself a full-blooded painter. Painting and the history of painting means a lot to me. I am intrigued by Italian renaissance paintings, and of course German painters such as Grünewald, Cranach and Dürer. My aim is to put the traditional topic of portraiture into contemporary art.

Studio Marie Aly

Hoe ziet jouw gemiddelde atelierdag er uit?

My normal studio day begins early around 8:30h. I work until the late afternoon. I listen to really loud rock music, classical music or in between, work in silence. I never listen to radio, that distracts me.

I work on 5 to 10 paintings at the same time, when I don’t get stuck with one, I turn it around and work on an other one. My inspiration can come from mostly anything, newspapers, magazins, art books, the internet, music, exhibitions and every day life.

Calypso, Gallery tegenboschvanvreden, Amsterdam 2015

Hoe vind je het dat je werk straks te zien is samen met 60 collega-schilders?

It is great to be in good company!

Lust for Life heet de tentoonstelling – kun je je daar in vinden?

Art is lust for life!

Heb je nog mooie plannen voor de komende tijd?

Paint paint paint.

Marie Aly – binnenkort te zien dus bij Lust for Life in de Westergasfabriek. We willen met de tentoonstelling laten zien hoe goed de schilderkunst er anno 2016 voorstaat: alive and kicking – dat blijkt op de dagelijkse werkvloer van veel ateliers en is te zien in de galeries.

We werken samen met het Mondriaan Fonds om de KunstKoop te promoten. Lenen voor je kunstaankoop tegen 0% rente: een prachtige stimulans voor de afname van goede kunst. Bij de werken in de tentoonstelling staan de maandbedragen die je met de KunstKoop van het Mondriaanfonds kunt afbetalen.

Lust For Life, Painting Today | 21 – 24 april

Locatie: Westergasfabriek, Machinegebouw, Pazzanistraat 8, Amsterdam

Openingstijden: Donderdag 21, vrijdag 22, zaterdag 23 en zondag 24 april 2016 geopend van 11.00 tot 19.00 uur, entree 5 euro.

De tentoonstelling wordt mogelijk gemaakt door het Mondriaan Fonds, Westergasfabriek, JurLights, IJM Colour, Budweiser Budvar en alle galeries en kunstenaars.