Hans Bouman (born in 1951) is a Dutch visual artist working in

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

and

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

. He settled in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1980.

Life and career

Hans Bouman grew up in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and earned his degrees at the Graphics School and at the Rietveld Academy of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

in 1978. After settling in

in 1980, he received the Painting Prize at the Salon de Montrouge in 1985, when he became a well-known and successful visual artist. Along the years, art critics Alin Avila, Gérard Barrière, Gérard-Georges Lemaire, as well as novelist Daniel Picouly wrote the prefaces to the catalogues of his one-man shows. During his career, Bouman's works have grown in a series of interconnected cycles. His hieratic heads carved in the thickness and density of the layers of paint recalled the

Moai Moai or moʻai ( ; ; ) are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but h ...

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

, the African masks or the dramatic elongations of Expressionnism. ''« The magic of Bouman lies in the play on pictorial matter and his capacity to make a forceful figure emerge from it, both literally and figuratively"'' Henri-François Debailleux wrote at the time. In a subsequent series, a whole pantheon of

gods A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

and goddesses was born from his

imagination Imagination is the production of sensations, feelings and thoughts informing oneself. These experiences can be re-creations of past experiences, such as vivid memories with imagined changes, or completely invented and possibly fantastic scenes ...

: Årantaleph, Olafdir, Kratikoff, Mandi Tan... He has always used

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

, for instance in a series dedicated to the bunkers stranded on the beaches of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. With the development of

digital photography Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image is ...

, he merged drawing, painting and etching with the many possibilities offered by new technologies. Travelling has always been part and parcel of his artistic approach. During his stays in

Bobo-Dioulasso Bobo-Dioulasso ( , ) is a city in Burkina Faso with a population of 1,129,000 (); it is the second-largest city in the country, after Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital. The name means "home of the Bobo- Dioula". The local Bobo-speaking pop ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

and

Foumban Foumban or Fumban is a city in Cameroon, lying north east of Bafoussam. It has a population of 83,522 (at the 2005 Census). It is a major town for the Bamum people, Bamoun people and is home to a museum of traditional arts and Culture of Camer ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, together with local traditional bronze casters he created a series of bronze lost-wax sculptures. In 2014, he created a monumental sculpture for the Par't Sino-français in Shunde near Canton,

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

, that marked the anniversary of the 50 years of diplomatic relationships between France and China. When he was invited as an artist in residence by the ADEFC created by novelist Ya Ding in 2017 et 2018, Hans Bouman's work took on a new direction, inspired by the astounding landscapes of

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

and

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

provinces. Hans Bouman is also the author of experimental films (''The meanders of black'', ''A Dream'' based on

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

's short story) and video portraits of his artist friends: ''Painters in Longzhou'', Christine Jean, Serge Plagnol, Fred Kleinberg, Zwy Milshtein, Bernard Ollier, Sophie Sainrapt, Albert Hirsch... Hans Bouman also works in his new studio in the countryside in the

Loiret Loiret (; ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It takes its name from the river Loiret, which is contained wholly within the department. In 2019, Loiret had a population of 680,434.

, where his recent work is permeated by the natural elements that surround him.

Selected 0ne-man shows

* 2023 ''Family Affairs #8'', Galerie Area, Paris, avec Margreet Bouman et Ronald Ruseler * 2022 ''Corps & Esprit III'', IF-Grenier à sel, Châtillon-Coligny * 2022 ''Lignes de Mire'', Galerie Area , Paris * 2020 ''Nature du regard'', IF-Grenier à sel, Châtillon-Coligny * 2018 ''Je peins, donc tu es'', Orangerie du Sénat, galerie Area, Paris * 2015 ''Loin des images et du bruit'', Galerie Univer / Colette Colla, Paris * 2014 ''Le Concours des torses'', Galerie Vanuxem, Paris * 2012 ''Body and Soul II'', Pink Gallery, Seoul, South Korea, * 2012 ''Body and Soul I'', Kunstdoc, Seoul, South Korea * 2012 ''Corps et Esprit II'', Espace Saint-Louis, Bar-le-Duc * 2011 ''Têtes à tête,'' La Serre, Saint-Étienne * 2010 ''En corps'', La Réserve d'area, Paris * 2008 ''Têtes ardentes'', La Réserve d'area, Paris, catalogue * 2008 ''Corps et esprit'', Centre d'art contemporain Raymond Farbos, Mont-de-Marsan * 2007 ''Suaire de soi'', La Réserve d'area, Paris * 2005 ''Labyrinthe'', avec S. Galazzo, F. Haddad et S. Sainrapt, L'Entrepôt, Paris * 2004 ''10 ans de peinture'', Galerie Le Confort des Étranges, Toulouse * 2001 Galerie Art Déco, Antananarivo * 2000 Galerie Koralewski, Paris * 1999 Galerie Simoncini, Luxembourg * 1997 ''Au pays Lobi'' avec Bertrand Rieger, espace Paul Ricard, Paris, * 1997 Centre culturel Albert Camus, Antananarivo, Madagascar * 1996 ''Œuvres récentes'', Studio Kostel, Paris, ''Œuvres sur papier'', galerie Vanuxem, Paris, ''Parcours 1985/1996'', galerie Kiron, Paris * 1995 Galerie Westlund, Stockholm, Galerie Vanuxem, Paris * 1993 ''Traits de caractère'', Chapelle de l'hôtel de ville, Vesoul * 1993 Galerie Nicole Buck, Strasbourg * 1993 Galerie Vanuxem, Paris * 1992 Galerie Simoncini, Luxembourg, * 1992 ''Sculptures'', galerie Koralewski, Paris * 1990 Studio Kostel, Paris * 1990 Galerie Vanuxem, Paris * 1990 Galerie La Cour 21, Nantes * 1987 Galleria M.R., Rome * 1987 Galerie Nicole Ferry, Paris * 1986 Galerie Flora, Espace Kiron, Paris * 1985 Galerie Jean-Claude David, Grenoble

Books

* 2021 ''Family affairs #6'', 3 paper works with M. Bouman & R. Ruseler * 2020 ''Haarlem en ik'', leporello, collection Museum Haarlem * 2018 ''Le Corps derrière le corps'', text by Gérard-Georges Lemaire, Piver publisher * 2018 ''CommeUn n°17'', text by Daniel Picouly with A. Inumaru et N. Gaulier, Area Paris, Alin Avila publisher * 2016 ''CommeUn n° 7'', text by Alain Pizerra with B. Guarrigues et B. Pingeot, Area Paris, Alin Avila publisher * 2014 ''Le Concours des torses'', text by Gérard-Georges Lemaire, Piver publisher * 2013 ''Face-A-Face'', a photographic dialogue in South Korea, Piver publisher * 2012 ''Body & Soul'', Paris & Seoul,Piver publisher * 2005 ''Sextus'', text by Gérard-Georges Lemaire, Area Paris publisher * 1998 ''From Bobo to Ouaga,'' text by Hans Bouman & Tony Soulié, Yeo publisher for Area Paris * 1998 ''Family Affairs'', with M. Bouman & R. Ruseler, text by I. Lanz & D. Cunin, M.Bouman publisher () * 1997 ''Chemins croisés en Pays Lobi'', texts by G. Barrière, C. Barbier, H. Bouman, M.-C. Guyot, F. Le Graverend & B. Rieger, Espace Paul Ricard & Polaroid * 1996 ''Voici moi'', poem by Tadeusz Koralewski, illustrated by Hans Bouman, Area Paris, Alin Avila publisher * 1993 ''Têtes'', a drawing notebook, Yeo for Area Paris, Alin Avila publisher * 1993 ''Visages'', text by Gérard Barrière, galerie Vanuxem publisher, Paris

Collections

* Guangzhou FengLe Medical Technology Co, Guangzhou, Guangdong, Chine * Museum Haarlem, Haarlem, Pays-Bas * International Art Centre, Shangjin, Hubei, Chine * International Museum, Longzhou, Guangxi, Chine * P’art sino-français, Shunde, Guangdong, Chine * BNP Paribas, Paris * Ars Aevi, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina * Musée de Toulon, donation Alin Avila

Selected articles

* Gérard-Georges Lemaire, ''Dans l'atelier de Hans Bouman'', Verso-hebdo, 2021 * Vitorio E. Pisu, ''Hans Bouman. Nature du regard'', Palazzi a Venezia n° 9, septembre 2020 * Alin Avila, ''Je peins, donc tu es,'' area revue n° 34, printemps 2018 * Hassouna Mosbahi, ''Un peintre hollandais à Paris'', elaph.com, 30 mars 2017 * Gérard-Georges Lemaire, ''Body and Soul'', Culture Ocean, mars-avril 2013 * Chistophe Averty, ''Les âmes silencieuses'', Artension n° 112, 2013 * Gérard Férou, ''L’Afrique fantôme d'Hans Bouman'', Les Lettres françaises, octobre 2007 * Gérard-Georges Lemaire, ''Hans Bouman '', Santé mentale, no 167, 2012 * Henri-François Debailleux, ''Hans Bouman en têtes'', Libération, 29 novembre 1996 * Françoise Monnin, ''Le double visage d'Hans Bouman'', Muséart, no 55, novembre 1995

Bibliography

* Gérard-Georges Lemaire, ''Le Noir absolu et les Leçons de ténèbres'', Hémisud, 2009 * Daniel Picouly et Gérard-Georges Lemaire, ''Têtes ardentes'', Éditions Area, 2008 * Gérard-Georges Lemaire, ''Labyrinthe'', 2004 * Alin Avila, ''Totems de silence: Hans Bouman'', 1996, Yeo éditeur pour Area, Paris (EAN 265–0006469745) * Gérard Barrière, ''Traits de caractères'', 1993 * Henri-François Debailleux, ''Hans Bouman'', Galerie Vanuxem éditeur, Paris, 1990 * Gérard Barrière, ''Hans le tenace'', Paris, 1987 * Henri-François Debailleux et Gérard-Georges Lemaire, ''Hans Bouman'', Grenoble, 1985 * Alin Avila, ''L'Éloge de la peinture,''

References

External links

www.hansbouman.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouman, Hans 1951 births Living people Dutch artists