RUUD VAN STRATEN
PAINTINGS & DRAWINGS

New work in the making, 
(This is just a rough preview of the likely end result...you never know with artists ;) )

 

click on an image below for details,
or send me an email for more info


 

 My Celtic Lad

A beautiful man executed in oil on canvas and combined with goldfoil and age-old symbols. A Triquetra, symbol of protection and the trinity; earth, air and water or life, death and rebirth.  Together with an Ouroboros; The Ouroboros (Ancient Greek οὐροβόρος, "tail-eater") is a symbol of alchemy, and one of the oldest mythical symbols in the world. It appears in Celtic- and Aztec mythology, Chinese mythology and many others. It is an image of a snake or dragon biting its own tail (eating it) and thus forming an eternal circle. It symbolizes the cyclical nature of nature, eternal recurrence and the unity of everything.
The Celtic knot contains symbols that protect or ensure prosperity and luck, among other things. All of this covered with a lush, thick layer of glossy resin for an almost 3D effect.

Mixed media on canvas 60x90cm
Mixed media on canvas 60x90cm


Dancing Faun ( 1st century CE), a lustful woodland creature, follower of Dyonisos, the god of wine, lived freely in wild inebration. Often represented in frenzied states of music making and dance, as here, with chiseled body captured in rotating movement. Dancing with excited fishes with a Greek-Persian style mosaic background
What happens when you take Greek mythological statues and torsos from their safe environment and give them a surreal twist. Illuminated or surrounded by unusual creatures, their sensual appeal is enhanced in a colorful image. Ancient statues were often much more colorful than people now think....let's give some colour back..
Oil and goldleaf on canvas

the Dancing Faun oil on canvas 120x90cm
the Dancing Faun oil on canvas 120x90cm
art in room
art in room


A Midnight's Paradise

Oil and goldleaf on canvas. Neatly chiseled Greek torso illuminated by golden moonlight and luminous birds of paradise in an enchanting leafy forest setting.

A Midnight's Paradise oil on canvas 120 x 90 cm.
A Midnight's Paradise oil on canvas 120 x 90 cm.
Art in room
Art in room


Dark Angel Golden shower

Oilpainting with goldleaf. Paletknife and brush, on a 3D canvas. Bit of a rough Angel, but hey...

Dark Angel Golden shower 60 x 80 cm. oil/gold leaf on 3Dcanvas
Dark Angel Golden shower 60 x 80 cm. oil/gold leaf on 3Dcanvas
Art in room
Art in room



Menelaos and Patroclus oil on canvas 120 x 90 cm. .

During an attack on Troy Patrocles is seduced by Menelaos, Helen's husband, to fight in the armor of his beloved Achilles. Patrocles is murdered by the Trojans. Menelaos retrieves his dead body from the battlefield and brings it to an unsuspecting Achilles, who is left inconsolable with his murdered lover.

Menelaos & Patrocles 90 x 120cm.
Menelaos & Patrocles 90 x 120cm.
Art in room
Art in room

PARADISO

It used to be normal to discover the world and meet people. Long-distance flights and exciting encounters with new cultures and making friends.  A global pandemic, an international energy crisis and a changing mindset about how we interact with the world and the climate are slowly changing our lives. Is it still okay to fly everywhere, and what does the changes do to our memories? Do we continue to remember what we have experienced, do we remember friends we have met? Or will it slowly become a faded memory? In the triptych
Paradiso I show beach life on Naxos as it once was for me... but slowly fading... like a snapshot in an old photo album.

Oil on canvas, number three has recently been added and maybe more to come depending on my memory...anyway the background of these three continues like an endless horizon, when put next to each other

Paradiso 1 including frame white 93x123 cm 2022
Paradiso 1 including frame white 93x123 cm 2022
Paradiso 2 including frame white 93x123 cm 2022
Paradiso 2 including frame white 93x123 cm 2022
Paradiso 3 including frame white 93x123 cm 2022
Paradiso 3 including frame white 93x123 cm 2022


MULTIMEDIA ON CANVAS

Oilpaint/ spraypaint/ collage/ mixed techniques on canvas topped with a thick layer of resin on 3D canvas and framed in a black wooden 3D frame. If size matters 60 x 80 cm, except for Daniël; 50 x 70 cm.

George including frame 64x84cm
George including frame 64x84cm
Tom including frame 64x84cm
Tom including frame 64x84cm
Marilyn including frame 64x84cm
Marilyn including frame 64x84cm
Debby including frame 64x84cm
Debby including frame 64x84cm
Steve 64x84cm is no longer available
Steve 64x84cm is no longer available
Daniel including frame 54x74cm
Daniel including frame 54x74cm
Graig including frame 64x84cm
Graig including frame 64x84cm
Yuri including frame 64x84cm
Yuri including frame 64x84cm
Charly not available
Charly not available


My

DECAY

Dandys, impeccable and androgynous. As a basis, four old lists found inspired me to a series of portraits that radiate transience. Torn placards, hidden texts and faded beauty executed in oil on board and as a finishing touch a thick glossy epoxy layer.

DECAY
A story of contradictions, of decay and renewal, of beauty and old age. Four frames, discarded and damaged. For years they were a showpiece in the interior of an authentic brown pub, they were demolished and left behind in a second-hand stuff shed. I came across them and couldn't leave them behind. As I was already collecting photos of walls full of pasted posters as inspiration for colors and backgrounds, I came up with the idea for a series about old and new, decay and beauty. The frames have been refurbished, but the age remains visible. Texts are visible but illegible, all painted on a background of randomly torn painted pamphlets. Like a phoenix from the flames, four beautiful men, impeccable Dandy's, emerge, seemingly unfazed by the ravages of time. Even the paisley motif on the back of the paintings is a reference to the times of old. To enhance the effect, the paintings are finished with a thick layer of  resin, so as to seal the decay of the background and the beauty of the nineteenth-century men against the ravages of time.
The image I have tried to create is to depict the ease with which nowadays it is easy to part with what is damaged or dilapidated, without thinking about what was once beautiful and had value. Restore that value and give it new allure, and honor its DECAY.

DECAY 1 not available
DECAY 1 not available
DECAY 2 not available
DECAY 2 not available
DECAY 3 not available
DECAY 3 not available
DECAY 4 not available
DECAY 4 not available


Dark Lights, a series in oil on canvas in which different shades of dark combined with a bright white show different men. Lust, mystery, passion, anger in a limited color palette

 Oilpaintings 2017/2018

Vincent including frame black 83x103cm
Vincent including frame black 83x103cm
Michael including frame black 63x83cm
Michael including frame black 63x83cm
Danny 50x70cm
Danny 50x70cm
IMG_20171009_140250_903
Yiorgos including frame 73x93cm
Yiorgos including frame 73x93cm
no longer available
no longer available

 

 Men on Canvas, just average men,dressed or naked in oil on canvas.

oilpaintings from 2016 till now.

 


Steven
Steven
Naked man 120x180 cm
Naked man 120x180 cm
Tired Bob 70x90 cm
Tired Bob 70x90 cm
Backside 70x90cm not available
Backside 70x90cm not available



 

Hommage to Mum and Dad, oil on canvas 120 x 180 cm.

Mum is not for sale
Mum is not for sale
Dad is not for sale
Dad is not for sale



Double sided prints on aluminium (2 boards, 4 prints, 1A+B and 2A+B)

Theme:  Let it go,   originaly for outdoor exhibition in Friesland Pingjum.

1A Don't change another 100x150
1A Don't change another 100x150
1B I do a thing called what I want 100x150cm
1B I do a thing called what I want 100x150cm
2A One day or Day one you decide 100x150 cm.100x150 cm
2A One day or Day one you decide 100x150 cm.100x150 cm
2B Why would you stay in the hell you live in100x150
2B Why would you stay in the hell you live in100x150
 
 
 
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