CAREL DE BEER

Carel de Beer is an artist based in Gordon’s Bay, South Africa. His work is
characterised by the impactful use of bold colours and strong lines, where
the essence of beauty is captured in a minimalistic way. “Devolution gets rid
of the complexity of evolution. When you look at my art, it’s less about what
or who it is – more about what it represents and the feeling evoked in the
observer – much like looking at a zen garden.”

He was inspired from an early age by rock paintings, the Post-Impressionists,
specifically Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, 20th century architecture
and also LP covers. His style offers the viewer an idealised perspective,
distilled to its essence where only the essential remains. His faceless women
remind us of the statues of Aphrodite. Her worshipers would come to the
temple and imagine the face of their beloved on her faceless body in prayer.
Growing up with an artistic mother and the encouragement of a primary
school art teacher, Carel quickly developed his unique style and technique
by enhancing fluidity in form and transcending the obvious or expected. He
likes to call it Simplexity. It’s the complex process you go through to arrive at
the simplest solution. He rids the artwork of detail to capture the essence of
the subject in line and colours without ornamentation or distraction. That is
also evident in how he signs his works. His signature is intentionally stripped
of all ornament to the point of becoming childlike. Picasso would be proud.
Oil on canvas has been his preferred medium for most of his adult life and
will remain so. More recently he has taken to digital painting using an iPad
Pro and stylus. It was a natural progression because it allowed him to draw
on his many years of experience as a graphic designer.

“There are many liberating factors to working with pixels instead of oil and
analogue pigments. There are Undo’s, billions of colours, layers and the
ability to create incredible hand-crafted textures. As with any medium, digital
art also has restrictions that the artist must understand and navigate, making
it a unique medium. I don’t see it as inferior to oil painting in the same way I
don’t see rock art as inferior to modern art. We will always find ways to
incorporate new technology into our art. I like to think of digital painting as a
form of etching. The artist sells signed editions like they would with etching
and linocut. I glaze the canvas giclée prints by hand, making each one
unique in how the surface plays with light. The original artwork exists as a
digital asset that can be sold and traded as an NFT. The true value of digital
assets is still an abstract concept to most people, but that will change over
time. It’s inevitable. It’s the digital revolution, baby.”

“It doesn’t mean I love painting with oil on canvas any less. It’s not just the
nostalgia of it. It’s that smell of fresh oil drying. ;¬ )”