Until Sunday 26 June 2022
Museum MORE extends its ode to the art of Pat Andrea in Ruurlo Castle. A selection of 30 masterpieces can be seen that testify to his imaginative and critical artistry. Born in The Hague as the son of a painter and an illustrator, Andrea is renowned both in the Netherlands and internationally. Over 30 paintings and drawings, dating from the 1960s to the present day, are testimony to an artistry that is imaginative and critical in equal amounts.
Divas with daggers and belles with bombs; Pat Andrea’s art hovers between beauty and danger.
The many women who play the main role in Andrea’s work, usually scantily clad in confrontational poses with brightly coloured, box-like backdrops, reflect his lifelong fascination for the femme fatale.
Pat Andrea, La Virgen del milagro de las numeros, 2002, private collection ©Pictoright
Tension
Her beauty and eroticism are combined with a dominant, sometimes aggressive image. There is a constant tension between attraction and repulsion. Movements frozen in time give the impression of a snapshot, an isolated yet momentous scene from an infinitely huge and complex story, in which the viewer not infrequently feels a voyeur.
Cartoons
Andrea has always attached great value to the accessibility of art. As he sees it, there is no difference between so-called high and low art. In the tradition of Hergé, the cartoonist behind the famous comic hero Tintin, he presents his subjects with clear and strong lines. It is no coincidence that in the 1970s, Hergé was one of his first collectors. In this sense, his oeuvre can be counted as part of the pop art movement.
Pat Andrea, The fall, 1975, private collection ©Pictoright
Pat Andrea, Encounter on Varadero Beach, Cuba, 1971-1972, collection Museum MORE (long-term loan RCE) © Pictoright
Sinister fairytale
The turning point in his life was a trip to Argentina in 1976. He arrived on March 25, one day after the military coup. In what he would later call his second homeland, Andrea faced unprecedented violence. But he also discovered passionate love, which can be just as explosive. Conflicts large and small have been the common thread in his oeuvre ever since. Aestheticism and alienation elevate the works above the level of what is sometimes harsh reality. Andrea’s world is like a sinister fairytale for grown-ups, in which faithful dogs become vicious monsters and alluring young girls turn out to be suicide bombers.
Parijs and Buenos Aires
Pat Andrea lives and works alternately in Paris and Buenos Aires. From 1998 to 2007 he was a professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 2002 he was elected a member of the Academie des Beaux-Arts de l'Institut de la France. His work is in museums and private collections in Europe, South America and the United States.
A richly illustrated book with highlights from Pat Andrea's oeuvre has been published to accompany the exhibition. The author is guest curator Feico Hoekstra. This book is for sale in our museum shop.
