INSIDE OUT AND OUTSIDE IN – A LOOK AT THE WORK OF MARIJE BIJL

“What else is the human appearance than the physical deposition of the myths and ideas we use in order to give ourselves substance, and meaning to our existence?
Look at religion, and martyrdom for that religion. It is the most powerful identity-myth humans have created to date, so powerful, martyrs are willing to kill themselves or be killed for the sake of the myth, and the respect it will give them, post mortem. The act of martyrdom will perpetuate their identity in death.
How much more physical and consequential can an idea become?”

In her autonomous work, Marije Bijl explores physicality as a manifestation of reality, while challenging us to question the validity of this reality. Bijl refrains from pre-empting or forestalling what is, or should be, “real”. She does not portray perceived misconceptions by antithesis, exaggeration or dramatic incidents, but rather by meticulously deconstructing the process of interpretation that creates accepted realities. As such, her paintings are a demonstration of the hybrid quality of identity as both the source as well as the result of that process of interpretation.
Bijl’s characters are eerily detached yet connected, isolated yet entangled in their surroundings. We feel they are outplaced, intangible, yet familiar and ordinary. They are object as well as subject, perpetuators as well as victims of the myths and precepts of morality that constitute the fabric of normalcy and the comfort of norms.

Bijl: The human made world (in the social sense) as I perceive it: a bleak place, where rules apply that I can’t really discover, and if I do, I find them hard, or illogical, or cruel, to follow. Where there is uneasiness at least, and sometimes outright danger, even though it is uncertain where the danger will come from, let alone why it’s there. A life where we are alone, even though we sometimes walk together. Where we are always vulnerable. A life where dreams are powerful, yet so powerless. Still, a life that gives, despite all this, pleasure and joy, a life we all want to live.

Bijl de-contextualises religious, political or social symbols thus de-masking and using the power of such imagery dominating both political discourse as well as interpersonal relationships. Yet the result is not a celebration of individual liberation and freedom. Rather, Bijl uncovers the human condition as the fundamental reality of existence.

Bijl: “To show the inside of bodies has many reasons: it is an intriguing thing, to have a body, and to know, and feel, all kinds of processes take place there one has little or no control over, that can rather control you instead, that is vulnerable and mysterious, vile as well as beautiful, that one gets born with, yet so much directs the way you are perceived, or how one builds one’s identity (anatomie ist schicksal) and that is rarely built nor perceived the way we want it to be.”

The men, women, youth and children, even when released from the grip of myths and norms, remain in suspense. The state of fluidity now is one between the isolation and restrictions of the human condition on the one hand, and the inter-human relations made possible by this very same human condition on the other hand. It is this – indeed shocking – realization of the repetition of symptoms, which creates an uncomfortable, sometimes near unbearable, tension.
As a result, we inevitably feel the need to “make sense” and give meaning to what we see, by creating a story around the subjects and objects, by placing them into relations to each other. Bijl’s use of space and lines creates a sense of connectedness thus setting teasing narrative parameters, yet she consciously refuses to tell the story herself.

BIJL ON HER STYLE, TECHNIQUE AND INFLUENCES
I am a drawing artist, first and foremost. I love to draw. The directness and swiftness of the technique, the starkness of the graphical effect of pure black on pure white is powerful. It is my lines that show my personal style most clearly. They give my work their distinct style. The lines give substance to the painting.
The fact I draw over my painting is what sets them off. It is also what I use to ‘keep my painting under control’. I need the lines to ground the painting, so to speak. I need to ‘close off’ the coloured spaces, sometimes even to scratch out things. I find I want that stark effect of black, sharp lines to counterbalance the fields of colour a painting is made of.
The arrows give direction to the viewer. One has to follow the direction in which they are flying, to what they are pointing or penetrating. It gives both a direction to your way of viewing as well as a distinctly different feeling to the image: with arrows, the image suddenly becomes laden, suddenly alludes to a story.
The same effect, if not stronger, is achieved by giving people a halo or a crown (a reference to Basquiat). They capture the eye, they are compository anchors, yet they also embody meaning through their association with sanctity, holiness, power and influence. No viewer, no matter his or her background, upbringing or beliefs, will be able to refrain from interpreting this symbol, and thus the story he or she perceives in the painting. Which is what makes these signs so very powerful.

ARTIST'S CV:

Born in the Netherlands, june 1970.
1982 – 1989 Gymnasium Camphusianum in the small town of Gorinchem.
1988 – 1993 Academy of art in Arnhem, now Artez, autonomous and graphical arts.
Publisched three comics in the comics magazine Striptuur
1993 – 1995 Academy of art in Tilburg, animation, cartooning and autonomous arts
Participated in the collective project “Kleur bekennen” an art animation film produced by
the Anne Frank foundation
Received second prize for the script and storyboard for a call for artists at the first Utrecht
animation festival
1995 – 1999 Freelance storyboard and cartoon artist.
1999 – 2002 Assistant manager at Snowplanet, an indoor skiing resort near Amsterdam.
Left art behind for a while.
2003 – today Autonomous artist, accredited as such by the local arts council Stroom, and taken up in their database.
Design for snowboards and t-shirts for Australian based snowboard manufacturer Valhalla Snowboards, for seasons 2004 and 2005
Exhibition at the Appel theatre ‘Tantalus’ in Scheveningen, solo, 2004
Private commission for a mural, 2004
Exhibition at gallery Goncourt, The Hague, Group, 2005
Private commission for two murals, 2005
Live painting of a mural and an exhibition at the Riff Raff Urban Arts event in The Hague, 2005
Exhibition at the Art fair Cologne, 2005
Exhibition at the Theaterplan theatre for ‘Mistero buffo’ in Eindhoven, solo, 2007
Exhibition at the TH Gallery, The Hague, 2007. Group.
Exhibition at the TH Gallery, The Hague, 2008. Group.
Exhibition at the Art Amsterdam, 2008. Group.
Exhibited and participated in the first edition of "Ongekend" Young Dutch Masters Art Auction,
Amsterdam, 2009. Group.
Exhibition at the Chic-dessin art fair for contemporary drawing in Paris, 2010. Group.
Exhibition at Lucas Schelkens, Amsterdam, 2010, Duo
Exhibition at Galerie Clement, Amsterdam, 2010. Group.
Exhibition at the Slick art fair for young talent in Paris, 2010. Group.