Henk Pander, Enola Gay Hanger – Wendover, Utah (2007), oil on linen [Laura Russo Gallery, Portland OR, Sep 4-27]

Henk Pander: History and Topography

Laura Russo Gallery
Portland OR – Sept 4–27, 2008

Henk Pander, German Corridor (2008), oil on linen [Laura Russo Gallery, Portland OR, Sep 4-27]

Trained in his native Holland, Portland artist Henk Pander creates large-scale oil paintings that capture the raw essence of present-day reality by depicting ominous scenes.

The derelict atmosphere in Pander’s new paintings is constructed by an amalgam of socio-political commentaries, lush painted surfaces and immaculate technique, which evoke memory, loss and neglect. Images of the destruction surrounding a plane crash, the fragility of life, degrading interiors and modern day landscapes attest to a postindustrial age of corrosion and deterioration that has settled into itself.

Worn and weathered, the archaic feeling in works like Ort becomes a thing of dark beauty, especially the way Pander renders them. His subjects are conveyed with the emotional detail of a realist who, though he approaches his painting method with the technical mastery of classical European schooling, depicts in his poignant and melancholic scenes the physical presence of time. They are laden with unspoken histories in compelling semi-narrative compositions.

As one of the most distinguished painters in Portland, Henk Pander fuses his tendency to use contemporary events as a subjective focus with an honour toward the traditional craft of painting.

www.laurarusso.com

Allyn Cantor