Harrie Gerritz - Etching: Black Moon - 1994

Harrie Gerritz calls himself a landscape painter, but it would take a long time to find a landscape like the one he paints. His interest lies in 'signs', in concepts, in forms that do not occur in nature - the square, for example. The artist 'creates' the square by connecting horizontal and vertical lines, such as a horizon and a church tower, or a river and trees. And he is concerned with the 'constructed landscape', to which man has added geometric forms: the block forms of a house, a paving stone or a fence.
Harrie Gerritz shows us in a reduced, intense form how he experiences that landscape. It is striking that he attributes an active role to both the landscape and his paintings: he speaks of 'signs from the river landscape', to indicate that communication takes place, so more than one-sided observation. This is also the case with his paintings: 'The work itself indicates whether something still needs to be done with it'.
The landscapes, lifted above reality, seem to have a clear simplicity. Yet every line and every colour plane vibrates with the inspiration that Harrie Gerritz experiences in that landscape. As a child of the Dutch river landscape himself, Harrie Gerritz investigates a series of questions about the landscape and its perception in his work. Over the years, the answers have become increasingly intense and abstract.