To those who follow the art scene in Thailand, Cornelis Hoek is known as the artist who coined the term “cornelages,” a combination of his first name and the word “collages.” For his art is exactly that: a collage of cut-outs from glossy magazines, brilliantly put together to create a work of art. I saw Cornelis Hoek’s work during his 2009 Bangkok exhibition in the Rotonda Gallery at Neilson Hays Library and I have remained impressed with artistic skills.
“Venus Born Again (Botticelli)” (37 x 54 cm)
He is now returning with “The Power of Creativity,” a new exhibition featuring his latest paper collages, hosted by 166 Art Gallery in Chiang Mai, his adopted hometown in the north of Thailand. Cornelis Hoek was born in 1937 at Grootebroek in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and has been creating his peculiar visual works known as “cornelages” since March 2009.
Cornelis is an artist with a vast volume of knowledge in the visual and performing arts. He believes that his “past experiences are reflected in my current works, each of them a little piece of theatre, a showcase of energy and art, colour and pattern combining to put on a show.” He chose “The Power of Creativity” as the title of his exhibition because “the creative force [of an artist] is fuelled by interactions, seeing and doing.”
His life and artistic philosophy revolves around the realization that, although nowadays you can enter any art museum regardless of your location with just “the click of a few keys,” his generation must also “show our younger generations how to observe, to question, how to find out for themselves the magic in the small and ordinary things that surround us all.”
“The King and I” (80 x 95 cm)
Cornelis’ love of nature is obvious in his work, with shades of green dominating many of his paper collages. This is mainly because, as a child, he had lived his life among flowers and plants in his parents’ horticultural business. “Later on, I used the natural fibres of hemp and cotton in my woven artworks. Even now, much of what I create is influenced by the shapes of leaves and flowers, and the spirals and curves of the natural world,” admitted Corenlis.
Cornelis Hoek has been living in Thailand since 1999 and he fell in love with Chiang Mai the moment he stepped off the pane: “Coming from – what was then – a grey and unsmiling China, the brightness, vibrancy and hustle and bustle of Northern Thailand was a complete contrast.” More than two decades later, he continues to find inspiration in the Thai images, religion, history and beliefs, avidly incorporating them in his work.
But, like all Europeans, his roots remain entrenched in the classical beauty of Italian art, for which Cornelis acquired a specific taste while living in Florence where he had studied the history of art and where he had performed as a concert singer. “But it’s not just the [Italian] art. I love the passion and intensity with which the people live their lives, the light and landscapes – even the food sings to me. It is a country that holds tight to both my heart and mind.”
“The Watchplants Are Blooming” (80 x 90 cm)
Cornelis Hoek’s “The Power of Creativity” exhibition opened on May 4, 2013 and will keep its doors open to any art aficionados until July 28. So, if you’re in or heading to Chiang Mai, take some time to visit 166 Art Gallery located at 94-120 Chereon Muang Road.
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