Anima-Mundi (Formerly Millennium) | Marcelle Hanselaar 'Open Secrets'

The Genius of the Crowd by Charles Bukowski

there is enough treachery, hatred violence absurdity in the average human being to supply any given army on any given day

and the best at murder are those who preach against it
and the best at hate are those who preach love
and the best at war finally are those who preach peace

those who preach god, need god
those who preach peace do not have peace
those who preach peace do not have love

beware the preachers
beware the knowers
beware those who are always reading books
beware those who either detest poverty
or are proud of it
beware those quick to praise
for they need praise in return
beware those who are quick to censor
they are afraid of what they do not know
beware those who seek constant crowds for
they are nothing alone
beware the average man the average woman
beware their love, their love is average
seeks average

but there is genius in their hatred
there is enough genius in their hatred to kill you
to kill anybody
not wanting solitude
not understanding solitude
they will attempt to destroy anything
that differs from their own
not being able to create art
they will not understand art
they will consider their failure as creators
only as a failure of the world
not being able to love fully
they will believe your love incomplete
and then they will hate you
and their hatred will be perfect

like a shining diamond
like a knife
like a mountain
like a tiger
like hemlock

their finest art

ARTIS STATEMENT

1) The series ‘Loss of Innocence’ is a series of 6 large prints.

Although I often work in series I never set out to do so. One drawing seems to lead to another until the subject matter has been assuaged.

These etchings are my response to the populaces uprising against the stranglehold of the old power structures in the Arab Spring and the severe effect of civil war on ordinary people.

People need to free themself to become their own person, in spite of feelings of fear and uncertainty they will be
encouraged by a sense of elation.

Whether these struggles are between men and women or the old and the new, the inevitability to lose our innocence is a very emphatic one.

2) The Theatre of the Absurd. I am fascinated by the phenomena of crowds, how the shift from private to collective behaviour creates a shift of inner boundaries as well. The familiar sense of inner and outer or personal and social responsibilities with its subsequent behaviour shrinks and expands simultaneously and creates, temporarily, a different set of references from which we then function.

3) The idea for the series ‘White Collar Black Man’ came from a tiny painting ‘Head of a Black Man’ by the 17th Century Dutch artist Govert Flinck, a copy of which hangs in my studio. The portrait shows a well dressed man, obviously someone of standing, wearing the uniform of the civic militia guards. What makes this painting so unusual is that he is portrayed from the back, we cannot see his face.

His stiff white collar, a well known symbol of middle class status seems to not so much enhance him as isolate and restrict him.

The validity and correctness of society’s rigid rules of acceptability in status or race versus the longing for
individual identity are the questions posed in these images.

I made these works in response to the colonialist view that a coloured man was not a person until he was molded in dress, behavior and thinking to resemble a white man.

5) We’re All Bleeding’ is a series of 9 etchings on a, for me, familiar theme, the conflicting awareness and subsequent balance juggle of how we see ourselves and how we appear to others.

Our civilized and socially conformist behaviour is only the tip of iceberg, underneath this ‘cool’ protective mask we inhabit a raw, pulsating and surreal world in which anything
is possible.

This awareness of our functioning in parallel universes
creates not only a sense of absurdity but also serves as a
counterweight to our daily uncertainties and fears.

Marcelle Hanselaar, 2014



MARCELLE HANSELAAR 'OPEN SECRETS' - 25/4 - 20/5/14 The Genius of the Crowd by Charles Bukowski there is enough treachery, hatred violence absurdity in the average human being to supply any given army on any given day and the best at murder are those who preach against it and the best at hate are those who preach love and the best at war finally are those who preach peace those who preach god, need god those who preach peace do not have peace those who preach peace do not have love beware the preachers beware the knowers beware those who are always reading books beware those who either detest poverty or are proud of it beware those quick to praise for they need praise in return beware those who are quick to censor they are afraid of what they do not know beware those who seek constant crowds for they are nothing alone beware the average man the average woman beware their love, their love is average seeks average but there is genius in their hatred there is enough genius in their hatred to kill you to kill anybody not wanting solitude not understanding solitude they will attempt to destroy anything that differs from their own not being able to create art they will not understand art they will consider their failure as creators only as a failure of the world not being able to love fully they will believe your love incomplete and then they will hate you and their hatred will be perfect like a shining diamond like a knife like a mountain like a tiger like hemlock their finest art ARTIS STATEMENT 1) The series ‘Loss of Innocence’ is a series of 6 large prints. Although I often work in series I never set out to do so. One drawing seems to lead to another until the subject matter has been assuaged. These etchings are my response to the populaces uprising against the stranglehold of the old power structures in the Arab Spring and the severe effect of civil war on ordinary people. People need to free themself to become their own person, in spite of feelings of fear and uncertainty they will be encouraged by a sense of elation. Whether these struggles are between men and women or the old and the new, the inevitability to lose our innocence is a very emphatic one. 2) The Theatre of the Absurd. I am fascinated by the phenomena of crowds, how the shift from private to collective behaviour creates a shift of inner boundaries as well. The familiar sense of inner and outer or personal and social responsibilities with its subsequent behaviour shrinks and expands simultaneously and creates, temporarily, a different set of references from which we then function. 3) The idea for the series ‘White Collar Black Man’ came from a tiny painting ‘Head of a Black Man’ by the 17th Century Dutch artist Govert Flinck, a copy of which hangs in my studio. The portrait shows a well dressed man, obviously someone of standing, wearing the uniform of the civic militia guards. What makes this painting so unusual is that he is portrayed from the back, we cannot see his face. His stiff white collar, a well known symbol of middle class status seems to not so much enhance him as isolate and restrict him. The validity and correctness of society’s rigid rules of acceptability in status or race versus the longing for individual identity are the questions posed in these images. I made these works in response to the colonialist view that a coloured man was not a person until he was molded in dress, behavior and thinking to resemble a white man. 5) We’re All Bleeding’ is a series of 9 etchings on a, for me, familiar theme, the conflicting awareness and subsequent balance juggle of how we see ourselves and how we appear to others. Our civilized and socially conformist behaviour is only the tip of iceberg, underneath this ‘cool’ protective mask we inhabit a raw, pulsating and surreal world in which anything is possible. This awareness of our functioning in parallel universes creates not only a sense of absurdity but also serves as a counterweight to our daily uncertainties and fears. Marcelle Hanselaar, 2014	Drowning Pool 50 x 40 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 30 Loss of Innocence, War 50 x 40 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 30 Loss of Innocence, Sacrifice 50 x 40 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 30 Loss of Innocence 3 50 x 40 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 30 Loss of Innocence 4 50 x 45 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 30 Loss of Innocence 5 55 x 50 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 30 Spectators 130 x 110 cm . oil on canvas Procession 112 x 97 cm . oil on canvas Adoration in the Wilderness 100 x 77 cm . oil on canvas Ritual 100 x 77 cm . oil on canvas Relic 122 x 100 cm . oil on canvas Protestors 100 x 80 cm . oil on canvas Who is a Pretty Boy Then 108 x 82 cm . oil on canvas Child Soldiers 3 100 x 82 cm . oil on canvas Child Soldier 67 x 56 cm . oil on canvas White Collar Black Man 66 x 61 cm . oil on canvas Fighter 100 x 82 cm . oil on canvas We’re All Bleeding 1 25 x 20 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 15 & hand coloured / ed 15 We’re All Bleeding 2 25 x 20 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 15 & hand coloured / ed 15 We’re All Bleeding 3 25 x 20 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 15 & hand coloured / ed 15 We’re All Bleeding 4 25 x 20 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 15 & hand coloured / ed 15 We’re All Bleeding 5 25 x 20 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 15 & hand coloured / ed 15 We’re All Bleeding 6 25 x 20 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 15 & hand coloured / ed 15 We’re All Bleeding 7 25 x 20 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 15 & hand coloured / ed 15 We’re All Bleeding 8 25 x 20 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 15 & hand coloured / ed 15 We’re All Bleeding 9 25 x 20 cm . etching / aquatint / ed 15 & hand coloured / ed 15 Beasts 2 46 x 41 cm . oil on canvas Beasts 4 70 x 90 cm . oil on canvas The Civilisers 96 x 122 cm . oil on canvas Don’t Look Now 80 x 100 cm . oil on canvas