Vondelpark 2011

Lau Heidendael made "Vondelpark," presumably in Vondelpark itself, using pencil and watercolor. It feels like Heidendael is working with the bare minimum, like they’re using only the tip of their brush. The whole thing is about suggestion and open space, a kind of understated expressionism. Look at that tripod structure smack dab in the middle. It’s awkward and uncertain, drawn with delicate grey lines. It leads your eye up to a little dark patch that could be anything. The light bounces off it like it might disappear any second. There's a touch of Agnes Martin here in Heidendael's lightness of touch. It suggests a connection to the spiritual aspects of art. Heidendael coaxes a world into being with a few, careful marks. It’s more about the potential of a place than a concrete reality. It suggests that art is as much about feeling as it is about seeing.