Aad Berlijn

Aad Berlijn

Aad Berlijn (Rotterdam, November 1948), painter, participated in Ateliers ’63 Haarlem (1967-1970), after initially studying at the Academy of Rotterdam (1966).

Aad lives and works alternately in Amsterdam and Knoxville (USA). He makes paintings mainly in acrylic paint, usually on a large scale. He also works a lot on drawings, usually in pastel chalk.

In Amsterdam he paints the large paintings, with which he can sometimes struggle for a long time, in his studio. In his work he combines his qualities as a storyteller based on the everyday with figurative as well as abstract elements. He plays with perspective in clear compositions with often contrasting colors. The viewer is triggered by the suggestion that emanates from the everyday objects in the plane.

In the American town of Knoxville he works mainly on sketches and drawings that he also exhibits there or takes back to the Netherlands with him to form the basis for his larger work.

Much of his work is informed by his knowledge of other artists and art movements. An important influence on his work comes from his mentor Roger Raveel, the leader of the Neo Figuration movement in the Low Countries, to whom Aad was associated for a time.

Over the years, Aad Berlijn has exhibited at a large number of leading galleries, mainly in the Netherlands and the United States. These galleries include: Galerie de Paladijn, Galerie Akinci, Galerie Etcetera, Arttra Galerie, Galerie 59. He has also exhibited at important institutional locations and collections, such as the Rijnstate collection.

Work by Aad Berlijn is included in the collections of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the collection of the Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst. It is also in important institutional collections, such as the Rijnstate collection.