Hans Overvliet | DISTANT SUFFERING Martha Jager, curator Vleeshal in MiddelburgNL about the oeuvre after a studio visit: The dedication to art as a relational verb is central to Overvliet's work. On the one hand, the balance between poetry and criticism is special, in that the work never becomes bitter or pedantic, while at the same time the dialogue with the viewer is actively maintained. It is a tender form of activism that moves nd urges action and also continuously questions the role of art. Since 2013, by means of the ongoing art-series DISTANT SUFFERING, the Dutch artist Hans Overvliet (Leiden, 1952) investigates the role of the media in their representation of (military) violence. This, in the context of themes as perception, memory and identity formation. Overvliet uses a various range of media, symbols and codes, bringing together dichotomies like beauty and violence, refinement and brutality, the sublime and the vulgar. Aspects of power, politics, exclusion, censorship and the connection between artist, artwork and viewer infiltrate his multifaceted conceptual oeuvre. As a reporter, Overvliet was an eyewitness to the events in the Middle East during the 1980s. Of course these experiences resonate in DISTANT SUFFERING. Elements of this work in progress were exhibited in the Netherlands, Belgium, Pakistan, England, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Albania, Germany, Lebanon, the U.S.A., Brasil, Greece, Argentina and Sweden. In 2023, his whole body of paper collages ( 1999 – 2012 ) joined Geert Verbeke’s re-nowned collection of collages and assemblages. In 2024 - 2025 the whole oeuvre of DISTANT SUFFERING was exhibited at the Verbeke Foundation. Also this body of work is now included in the permanent collection. Next to his art-work Hans is, together with his wife Willy van Houtum, the founder and every day guardian of ruimteCAESUUR, the 31-year old space for contemporary art in Middelburg in the province of Zeeland. 2026 Pakje Kunst | small pack of art Terneuzen (February) Open Open'$ | KyivUkrain | Oleg Kharch Group& Hans Overvliet (March 05 – April 22) produzentengalerie e.V. plan-d | art initiative | DüsseldorfGermany (March 21 – April 19) | Curator Pier Pennings Cultuurcentrum BruggeBelgium | ‘TIN’ (April 10 – June 07) Curator Jan Verheaghe ik geef je mijn raam / i give you my window | Vlissingen | editie #32 in conjuction with The Liberation Festival Vlissingen May 5th (April 20 – May 31) | Curator / Sylvia Hubrouck Bloom Gallery | ValenciaSpain (April 25 - May 03) | Curator Bo de Jong
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