SEF BERKERS
530 West 25th Street, New York, NY
The traveler is to Sef Berkers, as honey is to the bee. The Dutch artist illustrates people on the go with loose outlines of humanistic forms featuring stark and colorful accents. Berkers has ventured to train stations in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, and it is from these ports of transportation that he has pulled his main subjects from. Oil on paper and acrylic on paper tell of these exclusive perceptions. Berkers is an avid traveler, with various trips throughout Europe, Egypt and India igniting his artistic vision and encouraging him to change practice. “To experience different cultures is important for me,” he says. In 1993, the artist began crafting solely in black and white: East-Indian ink with a reed pen, felt tip pen and roller pen as some of his tools for production. Inclusions of color and usage of oil paint came into play after Berkers brought back color pigments from a visit to India. Uniquely, all of his works are also numbered, the first work dating back to December 17, 1993. With over 97,500 pieces in his archive, Berkers hopes to achieve 100,000 by December 17 of 2023–30 years from the start of the devoted collection, building a record of his life as one work of art.
Berkers also finds inspirations in film and music–the latter which he dables in regularly. He resides in Venlo, The Netherlands and teaches painting lessons both privately and at a local cultural center.
SEF BERKERS ON
at $1,500
098985-099064, Passers-by at a station (2.1.2023 – 2.23.2023)
Oil on paper
Girl with Handbag, 2022
Oil on Paper
15.5” x 12”
Girl with Suitcase, 2022
Oil on Paper 25.5” x 19.5”
Sitting Girl, 2022
Oil on Paper
15.5” x 12”
Walking Boy with Shoulder Bag, 2022
My artworks show the connections between people as they journey through life. For the past three decades, I have captured images of travelers at train stations in small oil paintings on paper and linen and sketches in various parts of the world. For the paintings I use a gestural sketch-like approach with a simple palette and bold contours. The paintings, but also my drawings, videos and installations are interrelated and form an expanding narrative, as a kind of autobiographical sequence. Each one has been numbered since 1993 with a numerator, building a record of my life as one work of art. I expect to reach 100,000 in 2023.
ORIGINAL SEF BERKERS ARTWORKS ON
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