Gerrit Westerveld (1949) was born in Aalten. From 1965 until 1970 he studied graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts & Design in Arnhem, where at that time the Bauhaus still exerted a strong influence. His work was also influenced by movements like Pop-art, Zero, German Informal and Abstract Expressionism. Westerveld specialized in publishing graphics and poems, in which he can provide a poem with a graphic context like no other. This synergy has rightly brought him national and international attention.
Beside woodcuts and colour etchings in the past, in recent years he is mainly working on linocuts and silk screens. In his works he combines different basic forms often by exchanging colours. By this way of working, sometimes his “editions” become “mono prints”.
His work can be recognized by his application of basic colours and a simple, strong vocabulary of form. Gerrit Westerveld has also made artist books, leporellos, and print portfolios. Some of his designs have been executed as wall carpets by the Textile Museum at Tilburg, The Netherlands. His abstract expressionist works demand a constant anticipation of the viewer, based on nothingness: Minimalism.
