After years of living in Seoul, Raymond Lemstra returned to his native city of Groningen for a year. ‘The playing field of my youth. Many people had quit the scene in the meantime, but going home gave me the opportunity to look up my former teacher, Hans Roos.’ When Raymond was at the Minerva Academy Hans had taught illustration, but meanwhile they both had taken up painting. As it turned out, they shared a great interest: the geometric form.

Hans Roos decided to abandon the rectangular frame and go back to the basics of how we see: through the eyes. Since then he has painted within a rounded frame, which due to the lack of corners results in a completely different experience of gravity, of above and below. Forgoing a central midpoint, Hans uses asymmetry to control the complexity of his compositions.

Whereas Hans breaks through the symmetrical characteristics of the circular form in his search for balance, symmetry is the backbone of Raymond Lemstra’s fictive geometrical ‘portraits’. These systematically feature two ‘eyes’ on either side of the dividing line between a mirrored image. Despite this point of recognition, there is no narrative; the images arise from a spatiality found in the paint, in which the brushstroke plays an important role.

Special event

• Saturday, 23.05.20: 13.00 / 18.00: Exhibition opening party • Reserve one of the hourly guided tours with the artists!

2020 •
20.05 Juxtapoz Magazine Curves and Corners: Raymond Lemstra and Hans Roos Take Over Amsterdam by Sasha Bogojev.