Albert Niemeyer

A life in art
Albert Niemeyer (Breda, April 10, 1951) is fascinated at an early age by the work of artists such as Van Gogh, Dali, Apple and especially Picasso and Chagall. “The freedom that they took to life in all its facets form in such a unique way in their work, my life changed forever,” he told about it. Signs went from an early age Niemeyer. After completing his studies at the graphic school in Eindhoven, the city where the family moved more Niemeyer in 1956, he worked for several years in various zoos. He takes care of the animals alone, he observes and paints it in all sincerity. Initially with photographic precision. Gradually he started to work more freely, in a style that evokes associations with the work of some Cobra painters.

Vigor
In 1972, the artist married Ingrid de Kruyff. Together they manage Dierentehuis ‘The Hazenberg’ in Amerongen. From late 1974 to 1980 Niemeyer works as a commercial artist and designer and specializes in airbrush technique in favor of illuminated signs. In 1978 the couple moved to the Brabant Waalre saw, where Niemeyer goes to work and live in a former church. It is during this period that he is focusing increasingly on his artistry, besides giving drawing lessons to children and adults. From artist schemes, Niemeyer never want to use, and therefore never compromised on his creativity. “It discourages you decisiveness. I had a clear goal and I have been working for, “he says about that time. The breakthrough comes at the invitation of the Eindhoven gallery, Willy Schoots, to exhibit and Reflex Modern Art Gallery in Amsterdam. These exhibitions mark the start of Niemeyer’s artistry. Not only in the Netherlands, in Europe and in America there is a demand for his work.

Development
It is also the start of a period in which several thematic characteristics recur in his art. Obviously the animal, but the distant trips he makes with Ingrid, affect his work in depth. “In Kenya I lived back in Egypt earth I was kidnapped by the structured chaos and in New York by the gold.” Until the late eighties, he paints with acrylic paint on very large format paper, framed in perspex frames designed by himself. In the early nineties he mainly works on canvas. The paint he brings not only with tassels on well with his hands or directly from the vial. A trip to South Africa has great influence on his view of ‘human being’. “White and black in South Africa’s painful caricature.” ( “A white farmer in South Africa” in 1991). Meanwhile, demand explodes to work. The interest is so great that he can hardly meet with. Niemeyer: “The big question at the expense of my creativity. My work brings new things and I want to continue to develop. Not keep stabbing in some form, some way. “Looking for renewed freedom, he begins to understand his view of the world in images and objects. An exhibition of thematic work appears under the heading ‘Levenslied. In the nineties, past and present come more to the surface in themes like “Gilded Tears” (1993) and “The Raft of Medusa” (1999).

Health care institutions
It is during this period that he is using a command takes a look at a closed ward with demented people. “I was allowed me to mingle with these people, observing them, work with them and to include the result in a large mural.” About this project was issued a movie and a book by Alzheimer Netherlands: ‘Signed dementia … “and launched a period of Niemeyer in the Netherlands develops applied arts in healthcare facilities in the form of wall and ceiling paintings, statues and sculptures. Meanwhile, there was also demand from Belgium and France. The creative work with mentally limited and startling positive effects it has on them, even getting a professional touch. He will give lectures as a guest lecturer at various Colleges of Brabant.

New Era
Strengthened by his experience in the care he begins to further delve into the ‘human being’, which is reflected in a new artistic period. Niemeyer’s style is now more recognizable and more personal than ever. Penetrating. Expressive. A lot of lines, shapes and shapes to each other. Figures, people, animals, sometimes with objects. “The time in which we live, I think hard and harsh. In my work I want to feel affection and above all show. “Also the material to adapt it works with. “I work with acrylic paint on panel and use mixed techniques and different materials, the so-called mixed media.” Since the mid-nineties also the antique frames purchased in Paris where his work is embedded an essential part thereof. In 1997, Niemeyer moved to its characteristic house-cum-studio in Helmond.

Collections
From 2003 to mid-2010, Niemeyer is working with Etienne Gallery in Oisterwijk and exhibited there several times. In 2007 there was a major exhibition of his work. From there he grew into his latest theme “Revolutionary Personalities’, where as Oscar Wilde he admired writers, André Gide, Virginia Woolf and Vladimir Mayakovsky portrays in their own way. Through the years were the creations of Niemeyer their way to individuals as well as institutions and corporate collections. Especially the family portraits he realizes commissioned form here within a particular aspect. These are not clichéd family portraits in the classical sense; Personality characteristics are processed correctly in an abstract way. “At commissioned work I cherish my artistic freedom.” It typifies Niemeyer as an artist; quirky, sincere, inquisitive and always evolving.
Text: Jens de Jongh