Morning light (English)
Fragment
……..’At the same time Klein Hofmeijer, who is almost constantly experimenting with out-of-the-ordinary carriers and original frames, is making pictures such as nrs. Lichttafels 504 (Tables of light), Enigmatisch landschap 612, Op de ochtend van 4-2-2005 10.55 619, Lichttafels 648, and Lichttafels 679, showing closely in keeping with earlier art work and especially the series Lichtvangers ‘sensitive’ antennas and ‘susceptible’ receptors and sensors, sometimes in the form of forked semaphores or anthropomorphic tables.
The exposition Ochtendlicht, set to take place in the spring of 2008 in Museum van Bommel van Dam at Venlo, provides an extensive survey of all the subjects, themes, and motifs present in Klein Hofmeijer’s work from the years 1995-2008. At the presentation not only inspiring series such as Lichtvangers, De achterkant van de schilder, Inktmannen (crucifixes, scarecrows), ‘receptors’ (antennas), Wijnachtigen, and ‘physical’ landscapes, will be examined more closely thematically, but his sometimes complicated word pictures, inventive use of materials, as well as his provoking, philosophical statements about the artistic calling will be pursued further as well. The presentation revolves around Hans Klein Hofmeijer’s genuine ‘review’ of the world at the start of each new day and the lack of inhibition which enables him to create ‘something out of nothing’. The exhibition title Ochtendlicht is a deliberate choice here.
On Wednesday 1st March 2006, on the way back from a session of hours of viewing and discussing art with private collectors in the heart of Amsterdam, Hans and the present author late in the evening are driving themselves straight into an actual snowstorm raging between Breukelen and ‘s-Hertogenbosch. A seething east wind is continuously yielding sleet (of sorts). There is heavy weather: because of the icy patches on the A2 we are driving slowly most of the time. This does not stop us from having a profound conversation about the visual arts however. On this occasion while our eyes are ceaselessly scouring the meteorological inferno outside we are discussing inspiration and creation at length. At one point Hans reaches for the CD De Mannen by Bram Vermeulen and clicks forward straight away to Een Stille Ochtend. Full of attention we are listening to the poetical text that is amazingly ‘spot on’ as to range of thought, content, and atmosphere. In a fictitious manner Bram Vermeulen sitting at a piano actually sings about the ‘setting’, that is, the moment when in a creative sense all of a sudden something original or essential presents itself.
Silence and susceptibility, without the familiar prejudice, combined with a nimble mind have suddenly become the genuine seed-bed for inspiration and creation. With more than half of the song elapsed Bram Vermeulen literally sings: ‘Things make themselves.’ In the early morning still on our way to ‘s-Hertogenbosch we continue to play the song and perform a ‘root-and-branch’ analysis on it. Hans confides in me that when listening to the song text he realises each time again how basal total calm, susceptibility, and an ‘open mind’ are to him. As he is listening to Een Stille Ochtend it is as if he is ad ultimo rediscovering his own moment of creation.
After that drive for hours over snow and ice the title for the exhibition at Venlo wells up spontaneouly: Ochtendlicht (Morning dawn). Becoming merged in this word are the extraordinary colour photographs of the temporary atelier in de south of France, the already mentioned Momenten van Bezigheden, as well as the essential observations by Bram Vermeulen on the creative process. Touché.
In heart-felt deference to his own artistic past Hans Klein Hofmeijer always succeeds in ‘re-inventing’ himself as far as content, form, and also language are concerned. What is attracting attention here is that, as is also apparent from the quote at the beginning of this article, he mainly on the basis of calm and space (in the head) always manages to absorb a variety of artistic influences (art, literature, film, music) and to forge these ‘organically’ into an incommutable pictorial world of his own. Not for no reason the group of people who follow his fascinating oeuvre attentively and interestedly continues to grow steadily, both at home and abroad.’…………………..