20.5 × 30 in
 in
 cm
$2,700
Jeroen Witvliet’s The Prototype is a response to the contemporary vandalizing and removal of colonizer statues taking place across North America. Depicted in striking realism against a colourful, khaki-esque background, the artist places a 17th-century figure, complete with iconic boots, cape, and sword, atop the sturdy plinth on which he has posed for so long. At his feet, however, the tedious scaffolding of his perch is laid bare, the wood behind that immovable weight of stone evidence that his power, too, stands less sturdy than it once did. Witvliet identifies his figure as a stand-in for any colonizer by concealing the visage behind a geometric mask that might showcase the rigid organization of government structures that has stood alongside these men for centuries, and may also be on less stable ground today. Of this impactful piece, Witvliet says: “in a way, as an artist, I am vandalizing while creating at the same time.”
| Medium | Painting |
| Signature | Signed |
| Frame | Unframed |
| Condition | Excellent |
| Seller | Artist |
| Location | Victoria, Canada |
| Provenance | The Artist |
Jeroen Michèle Remco Witvliet is a Dutch/Canadian artist working mainly in painting and drawing. After immigrating from the Netherlands to Canada, he moved to Vancouver, BC, and from there to Vancouver Island. Witvliet graduated from the Willem de Kooning Academie in Rotterdam with a BFA. He then studied film, video, and painting at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design and holds an MFA from the University of Victoria.
His work has been exhibited throughout Europe and North America and is part of private and corporate collections. Witvliet has had thematic exhibitions based on the research and production of new work after the completion of international residencies, and his practice has received multiple Canadian Council for the Arts and British Columbia Arts Council Grants.
Artist CV
Education: 2014 MFA, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC
1999 Canadian Art History, University of Victoria, BC
1997 Capilano College, Vancouver
Film and Lighting: 1996 BFA, Willem De Kooning Academy, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Painting, drawing and Photography
1996 Erasmus Exchange Program, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver
Studio Painting, Film and photography studies
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2021 Unbalancing your thoughts, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC
The Collection of Jenny and Harold, Slideroom Gallery, Victoria, BC
2017 Aan de Einder, het ontoeganklelijk bos, Van Gogh Museum, Zundert, The Netherlands
The Assembly, Studio 111/Altenator Gallery, Kelowna, BC
2016 B RI D G E, Slideroom Gallery, Victoria, BC
2016 Sighting-Part Two, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2015 WayFarer , Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, BC
MIMIC, FINA Gallery, UBC Okanagan, Kelowna, BC
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020 Find Myself a City, Zerp Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Corona-Archives, Nieuw Dakota, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2019 (Dis)Connect, Two Rivers Gallery, Prince George, BC
The Foundation, Slideroom Gallery , Victoria, BC
Behind Studio Doors, Lake Country Art Gallery, Kelowna, BC
Vincent Inspireert, Aanwinsten, Vincent van Gogh Huis, Zundert, The Netherlands
De schreeuw van de maatschappij, Nieuwe Veste, Breda, The Netherlands
2018 De Aandeelhoudersvergadering / The Shareholders Meeting, Breda, The Netherlands
Memory Landscape, Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, Grand Prairie, AB
Figure Work, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Salon d’hiver, Zerp Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Small work, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2017 The Undoing/Shift , Zerp Galerie, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
All Tomorrow’s Parties Comox Art Gallery, Comox , BC
2016 Things fall Apart, pop-up event, Victoria, BC
Salon Du Printemps. Zerp Gallery, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Awards and Grants
2019 Canada Council for the Arts Creation/Production Grant
2018 British Columbia Arts Council Project Assistance Grant, Category II
2015 Canada Council for the Arts Creation/Production Grant
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