Born in Maastricht, Netherlands, in 1961, Rik van Iersel now lives and works in Eindhoven. During the initial stages of his career, van Iersel experimented with cartoon illustration but eventually directed his artistic pursuits to the possibilities of painting, within both a technical and subjective realm. Entirely self taught, van Iersel’s work coincides with Art Brut’s hailing of marginal, outsider artist figures and the COBRA movement’s revival of expressionism. Over the years he has developed a collection of powerful and unadulterated subject matter by weaving his everyday impressions of the outside world with his own internal dialogues.

As a perpetual, obsessive adventure, painting functions as a means to exploring and richly satisfying van Iersel’s curiosity. His primary concerns revolve around the dynamics of human relationships in its many different revelatory forms, and for Rik, painting announces those resolutions. He exalts the communicative power that the actual "process" of painting allows him. The viscosity of the paints, the electrified palette, the furious, determined strokes, wandering sketches and scratched surfaces demonstrate an uninhibited, raw expression through his materials. Furthermore, the elongated anatomy, distorted countenances and skittish lines expose an art laden with idiosyncrasies. Van Iersel reveals an intense psychology coupled with a playful, childlike innocence.

With fearless brushwork and an explosive palette, Rik van Iersel fuses traditions of expressionism, symbolism and Pop art into paintings of profound psychological depth and visual complexity. Inhabited by unforgettably distinct characters, his canvases are richly developed emotional landscapes that explore the often volatile dynamics of human interaction. Van Iersel’s imagery-a collection of private symbols culled from primitive art, comics and the collective unconscious-combines dark humor with an irrepressible belief in the communicative power of art-making. To view his work is to find ourselves at the center of a vital conversation. Rik van Iersel has exhibited at numerous museums, galleries and international art fairs, including the Galerie Peter Borchardt, University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands; Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven, Germany; Museum van Bommel van Dam, Venlo, The Netherlands, and MU Art foundation, Eindhoven.