Tropical Colors,
Renaissance Intellect
Curaçao
Museum, April 7, 2001
"ALGEMEEN DAGBLAD"
Caribbean Edition
by Annette Statius Muller
It is the
third time since 1993 that Maryleen Schiltkamp, who is often in New York
and lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, exhibits on her native island
Curaçao. Starting tomorrow, her artwork is on show at the Curaçao
Museum.
Maryleen
Schiltkamp received her first painting lessons from the Curaçao
artist Lucilla Engels. After finishing high school at Peter Stuyvesant
College, Schiltkamp left the island for the Netherlands to continue her
studies at the Rietveld Academy and the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende
Kunsten. Schiltkamp exhibited in galleries and museums in various
cities in the Netherlands and in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo. In March
of this year she was even selected by Manhattan Arts International as
their Artist of the Month.
Schiltkamp
has selected about thirty oil paintings for her latest Curaçao
exhibition. They can be divided into three groups: Renaissance,
Curaçao and Japan.
Inspiration for the last group is related to her first exhibition in Japan.
These works of art refer to themes from traditional Japanese prints, depicted
in a contemporary style of painting. The paintings in the Curaçao
group are relatively simple, with unmistakably tropical colors.
Schiltkamp
has achieved international acclaim with her paintings based on the Renaissance.
Typical of these works is their intellectual, often philosophical dimension.
This aspect as well as the value she attaches to tradition and continuity
is clearly expressed by the cross-connection Schiltkamp draws between
various art forms and frames of mind. By the way, one does not need to
'understand' the erudite associations to be captured by their impact.
The daring interplay of bright colors and forms is very convincing by
itself. The harmony she achieves between the fluidity of lines and angular,
geometric figures is often surprising.
The pièce
de resistance of Schiltkamp's exhibition is Raphael: The School
of Athens. On this canvas, based on the fresco by the famous Italian
Renaissance painter, she depicts the classical scene within a geometric
pattern. Very personal is the painting in which Schiltkamp pays homage
to several culture bearers of Curaçao who contributed to her development
as an artistically inclined personality.
Maryleen
Schiltkamp's oil paintings are on show at the Curaçao Museum (Otrobanda)
until April 29, 2001.
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