Prometheus Painting

‘The world is already crazy enough, all you have to do is paint it.’ Wouter Berns (1970) is a Dutch painter who lives and works in the city of Kampen, the Netherlands. He is best know for his narrative approach and subtile humor. Berns finds the material for his work in his own life experiences. To broaden his vision he travels to, for example, New Zealand, Hungary, Canada, Cuba or Mexico. To provide relaxation and balance in his life, in 2008 he moved into a second studio retreat in a rural village in the French Ardennes. Berns gets stories from everywhere—ranging from chance meetings, the religions of the world, literature, Greek mythology, music and film to everyday reality and the world around him. His curiosity about people, what motivates them, and how they relate to the world and each other—it all turns up in his work whether it is a work of his own or a commissioned painting. (text: Herman Broers, translation: Sarah Lawson)