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Christian Rex van Minnen

Strawberry Tears

€2,500

Edition of 25

Sold out

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Absurdism, horror, and cultivated arbitrariness meet canonical oil painting in a distorted portrait by Christian Rex van Minnen.

Grotesque and yet – somehow – delicious, plump gummy sweets float above a pulled and pinched face, veiled by a tattoo-esque layer of lurid cartoons. With a focus on tonal depth and richness of colour, the edition is printed in 34 distinct layers and finished with gold shimmer. Embossing and gloss varnish cause the gummies to jump forth from their surroundings, to surreal effect.

Specks, bubbling and pitting are a conscious choice by the artist, conceived to echo the aged surfaces of the centuries-old Dutch Masters paintings that inspire his work. The irregularities, unique to each print, are achieved by curing layers of ink for less time than usual – an experimental technique developed in collaboration with printmakers at Make-Ready in London.

The resulting artwork deftly entwines the precise technicalities of silkscreen printing with its lyrical unpredictability.

Behind the scenes

Christian Rex van Minnen wearing glasses and a bright orange sweatshirt

Christian Rex van Minnen4 collaborationsFor Christian Rex van Minnen, painting is an introspective process. His surreal canvases channel the raw chaos of thoughts and emotions into elegantly rendered images. Using oil painting techniques inspired by Renaissance and Dutch masters, van Minnen depicts his subjects with a decadent level of detail. His subjects themselves are, however, far from sublime: deformed faces, garish still lifes and disturbingly contorted bodies. Meanwhile, brightly coloured additions such as rainbows, hearts and gummy sweets reflect the influences of contemporary Surrealist-Pop Art. By playfully clashing with their surroundings, these details add a sense of absurdist humour to his artworks. The results are laced with irony – at once hyper-realistic and nonsensical, beautiful and ugly, historic and contemporary.

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Reviews from Avant collectors

print looks fabulous! super happy with it!
Review of Out of the Dark
it was an absolute pleasure making the purchase Avant Art. Communication was great and the print arrived as specified. i would definitely recommend your company.
Review of Actual Size
Excellent service from Avant Arte! Thank you!
Review of Inner Love
Overall extremely impressed with Avant Arte, especialy with the shipping/packaging and materials included with the print. Definitely care and attention to detail not typicaly associated with art of this price-level. Thank you
Review of Untitled
Excellent on every level - buying experience, communication, framing and packaging by (which was exceptional) and of course, the actual artwork - it is stunning in real life - really delighted.
Review of Guardian
Looks really great - high quality print arrived in perfect condition. Thank You!
Review of Guardian
It looks great and is one of our favorite pieces to add to our collection. We think the printing looks fantastic!
Review of Scaffold
A wonderful experience from start to finish.
Review of Open Mind (Small)

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