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Co Westerik
Mouth and Fork, 2003
Co Westerik (1924-2018) takes a highly distinctive approach to everyday subjects. He regularly zooms in on a small element of a person, or an action. Like here: something that could be piece of meat skewered on a fork disappears into an open wide mouth. The cropping of the image around the mouth foc
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uses our attention on the action. Saliva drips from the corners of the mouth, also ‘upwards’ on the right-hand side. The diagonal picture plane makes it difficult to determine where the top and bottom of the face is, which has an alienating and rather gruesome effect.
Human skin plays a significant role in Westerik’s oeuvre. ‘He is a meticulous man and highly observant, he touches a nerve near the surface of familiarity’, in the words of Fenna de Vries, Westerik’s second wife and a gallery owner.
Westerik studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, and also taught at the academy during his lengthy career. He won numerous awards. Westerik’s work features in the collections of many Dutch museums, including the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Kunstmuseum Den Haag and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.
Text: Evelien Verheij, collection coordinator
Artist
Co Westerik
Title
Mouth and Fork
Year
2003
Technique
Mixed media on canvas
Size
88 x 99.5 cm (h x w)
Type of object
Painting
Copyright
© Pictoright
This work is protected by copyright. You need permission from the creator or his heir to download, edit, copy or publish it.
