bas ketelaars / Work

The drawing, which emphasizes the materialty through graphite and texture, and the more immaterial printed photographic image complement each other. Different layers are stacked at slightly different positions. The drawing is eighter in between, under or on top of the print. Which is where may become irretraceble in the process.

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At Nordic Artists Centre Dale, Dale Norway.

For two months i explored the mountainous forests of norwegian’s westcoast at Nordic Artists centre Dale. At the edge of Norway, and the edge of Europe, i sought after ways to question the gap between the camera and the vista. Our ‘cultural gaze’ might be the first edge we encounter when entering a landscape. With basic actions as a form of extended photography, in front of the camera, often with multiple takes, the empty space between camera and landscape is where i try to find some room to maneuver.

The prints on baryta paper were shown (as if drying) on glass plates and windows , enabling a view beyond.

At Nordic Artist's Centre Dale.

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at Nordic Artists Centre Dale. Hand printed on baryta paper. Mounted to the window.

At the opening of 'Eyes of Hands' Club Solo Breda. A project by Wo Meine Sonne Scheint.

Drawing in wooden frame (graphite on paper) and the vielle of composer/musician Kate Moore. Photo Hussel Zhu.

'Eyes of Hands' Club Solo Breda.

photo:Peter Cox

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At 'Eyes of Hands'. Photo: Hussel Zhu

‘Untitled’ (Circles #2, #1) Graphite on paper. 150 x 120 cm. each.

Based on the projection of a landscape. This drawing (diptych) was made over a period of almost a year. It was started in my studio and finished in the living room, drawn up to five layers. First the sheet of paper was enlarged at the bottom, then this part was removed again. The remaining part was cut in two and rearranged. For me this drawing represents a way of non linear working; there’s no clear destination, it travels with me, expanding and contracting, absorbing time and graphite. I guess it was finished when it returned after an exhibition.

For the documentation of this work I experimented with a spotlight, clearly showing the reflection in the graphite leaving the other parts in the half-light of the room.

‘Untitled’ (The Centre Cannot Hold). Dimensions between : H150cm. and H89cm. Graphite on paper.

Photographic image translated into drawing. Different layers and stages of density are spread over several sheets of paper and several formations. The overlap is essential, making it it clear its one constructed image. The underlying might be invisible its not unreachable.

'Untitled' (Scroll)

In progress and infinitely extendable. Up or down the scroll there’s always an invisible but not unreachable part. Different vistas will be merged or set apart.

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At Pompgemaal Den Helder.

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At Pompgemaal Den Helder

At Pompgemaal Den Helder

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Studio, Breda.

The photo shows a studio setting where a landscape drawing is both integrated/ and set apart in its environment. The paper wall functions as an intermediate between the place of the studio over here and the nature in the image over there.

Primeval Traces. Bialowieza, Poland.

Animal entries.

Graphite on paper, projection and spotlight. 150cm x 123cm.

‘Untitled’ (Mögligkeitsraum) Graphite on paper 187cm x 150cm.

Movement and stillness. Drawing in three layers from a projected photograph taken during a walk in northern Europe. The upper part shows the first layer where the image was replaced every 5 cm(indicated by black marks; see detail). As a result from these replacements most significant and recognizable elements of the landscape are wiped out. All the information of the forest is there but fragmented in a repetitious pattern like field. The lower part of the drawing has two extra layers, drawn bottom up, where the image wasn’t replaced anymore. The drawing is drawn at both sides which on the one hand emphasizes it’s immateriality, the paper is in between the drawing, on the other hand this causes the paper to bulb which makes the paper material more visible.

[Production time app. 3 months]

B-side 'Mögligkeitsraum'

The lines at the rear side of the drawing create a texture and resistance on the front side. Although there''s more drawing, then when the drawing should be one sided, the paper materiality is emphasized.

'Untitled' (Carry)

Height: 150cm.

Edges of Landscape. Animal entry. Nida, Coronian Spit, Lithuania.

‘Creation is also about destruction, when you draw a line on an empty sheet the emptiness is gone.’ After two layers the whole drawing was erased, then three new layers. The middle part is completely black and the paper pushed to its limits. Each new layer destroys somehow the layer before. At the edges of the drawing there’s a lot of information about previous stages. I like the ambiguousness of the middle part which is at the same time suggesting depth as a black hole and blocking this depth by reflecting the light, thus showing the drawing as an ordinary object.

This drawing was started a few years ago and was never finished nor exhibited. It travels with me. The two images show how the light reflects the bulbed paper differently.

Previous stage, erased layer. Erased Graphite.

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Most of my work is in black white and gray. Partially because I’m colour blind (to a degree) and partially because the absence of colour enables me to focus on aspects like structure, density and duration, etc. more clearly. One reason however for wanting to apply colour is that gray (black and white) is the ‘colour’ of theory. There’s no such thing as a monochrome nature or a mere monochrome landscape. For drawing it appears to me quite natural to stick to graphite, with its myriad nuances between black and white and its almost inherently subjective character . The camera however is already preconditioned, many choices are already made and the colours come all at once. These images were taken around Bielefeld at the edge between sea- and continental climate, the very first hills one encounters when coming from the west. The photographs were taken in eight exposures each, with conditions changing in between.

'Forest Wall' At Artists Unlimited Bielefeld.

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Edges of Landscape. Forest wall. 78 x a4 office paper. Laser print.

Living Room

At Artists Unlimited Bielefeld, Germany.

Translation of walking maps used during the project Edges of landscape in Bielefeld Germany.

The lines of each sheet are continued in the bodering ones. From information to tactility.

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GlogauAir, Berlin.

The tin foil was taped to the wall with transparent tape at the spot with the least daylight in the room, which it reflects. The way the foil is taped to the wall clearly emphasizes its materiality. The drawing is a hand made copy of a photo representing a hole in the forest. The black graphite absorbs the light . 2019.

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DARK DRAWN, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Drawing based on 3 different images. Where the proces of merging images went wrong i finally erased in the form of a square to avoid ‘contamination’. Now the erased square and the rectanle at the right determine the direction of the view.

Temporary work space, Breda.

Studio/living room, Rotterdam

At Artists Unlimited, Bielefeld.

The picture was taken right after the drawing was cut in two pieces.

At GlogauAir, Berlin

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Graphite on paper. Photo: Peter Cox.

I started this drawing a few years ago, worked on it to a certain point, and then put it away. Months later I picked up the drawing again and, because I was not satisfied, I cut it into two parts (the arrow shows where the cut is) and continued with the main part. Last winter (2023) I took the two parts to a residency, restored it carefully in its original shape, and continued drawing with the (tentative) goal of covering the entire sheet with hatching, leaving out small white circles(based on the idea of a sensuous surface). Since the residency, the work has been temporarily put away again. the image above represents the current state of the work.

It is a non-linear working method that is not so much in service of an end result but rather allows the work to move along with me for a while, allowing the original intention to be gradually adjusted. At the same time, the work, through its recurring presence, influences the process of making of other works. The slowness of such work and its deferred completion in a certain sense defies economic logic, yet at the same time I think that this method carries a certain vitality.

At Pompgemaal Den Helder.

At Pictura Dordrecht.

'Untitled' (Done with light #2) Graphite on paper. 150 x 252cm. Rotterdam

inkjet print on 18 sheets of a4 office paper.

transparent sheet with additional light.

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At Nida Art Colony, Nida Lithuania.

At Nida Art Colony, Nida Lithuania. Graphite on tracing paper.

Korsholm, Finland. Tape to window.

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Graphite on paper. Photo: Peter Cox

Inkjet on office paper

IS-projects Leiden. photo:Guido Winkler

Transparent tape on Rice paper.

Soft rice paper is taped to the wall with transparent tape. At first sight the installation might seem invisible but it changes its surroundings slightly.