Philip Akkerman

Derek Eller Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of paintings by Dutch artist Philip Akkerman, featuring selections from his decades-long project of self-portraiture.  Although the works are comparable in their intimate scale, Akkerman’s variety of styles, colors, and compositions reveal the infinite possibility within his chosen genre.

Akkerman has exclusively been painting self-portraits since 1981. Confounded by the enigma of existence, he turned to self-portraiture as a means of comprehending. His inclination was validated by German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who professed that existence demands examination, and that “the more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him."

Utilizing a traditional Old Master technique of grisaille underpainting, Akkerman layers his panels with washes of color or thick brushstrokes, achieving an array of results which ranges from realism to expressionism and everything in between.  An heir to the tradition of Dutch self-portrait painting which includes Rembrandt and Van Gogh, Akkerman evokes these masters along with so many others: Durer, Dali, Picasso, Dix, De Chirico, Bacon, Close. In the end, it is the sheer breadth of his variation which makes Akkerman’s voice unique.