The Approach W1 is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings on paper by Rezi van Lankveld.

Rezi van Lankveld’s works exist in constant oscillation between abstraction and figuration. Often working wet-on-wet and pouring paint onto horizontally flat laid board or paper, Van Lankveld allows the suggestive nature of the pools of paint to lead her towards an image.

Emotionally charged scenes and figures emerge from droplets and swirled marbled paint, manipulated by strong and modulated brushstrokes. Rorschach-like, these phantasms emerge intimated by vague physiognomies, limbs, heads, ambiguous embraces and gatherings, before dissipating back into the materiality of the paint. Seductively mysterious, Van Lankveld’s figures and muted palette nod at 19th century Dutch painting and hint at undertones of humour, violence and sexuality.

Van Lankveld’s paintings on paper are less involved with their own physicality and surface than her works on board. Instead, the works on paper shift their focus to the image and allow potential narratives to emerge as compact stories. The works often balance figurative elements and unarticulated backgrounds, until the surface reads as both an image and a record of every mark that has gone into creating the painting.