Erik den Breejen’s text paintings and works on paper investigate the narrative and cultural significance of the written word as well as its potential for abstraction - a means of exploring the language of painting itself.
In his work, letters function as compositional elements of the same weight as the geometric shapes with which they interact. The artist pushes the bounds of legibility and conventional design to challenge and engage the viewers, drawing them into a world of colour where positive and negative space often reverse.
Reading images and reading words are two different processes. Den Breejen enjoys playing with both at once, exploring where one is subsumed by the other. The artist often references music, song lyrics and album titles in his work as well as quotes from poetry, novels, film and stand-up comedy - exploring culture at large through his intricate and colourful works.
Erik den Breejen (b. 1976, Berkeley, US) graduated from Cornell University, where he received his MFA in 2006, and the California College of the Arts, where he received his BFA in 1999. His paintings have been exhibited at Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, and Freight + Volume, New York, and are collected internationally. Den Breejen’s large-scale public works include murals commissioned by Atlantic Records, Public Art for Public Schools, and Rag and Bone. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.