MEMORY OR RECOLLECTION

The Danish writer Leif Davidsen wrote, “…one can not remember how one was. We think we can, but remembrance is closely related to oblivion, and an image doesn´t help clarify these thoughts or feelings.”

Hans van der Ham´s studio is the epicentre for distilling artistic and intellectual processes. It is a creative resort, a sanctum where doubt, reflection, and foresight are manifested physically. The mystery of whether the artist creates from memory or recollection adds a layer of intrigue. Remembering implies keeping in memory, which may be effortless or unwilled. Recollecting implies bringing back to mind what is lost or scattered. Recall suggests an effort to get back to mind and often to re-create in speech. Remind suggests jogging one's memory by association or similarity. When explicitly asked what a particular painting means, Ham says he doesn´t necessarily have a specific reference. This does not exclude memory or recollection but indicates a process-orientated practice, where images evolve in the autonomy of free-thinking, and each painting adopts its unique character and source of reference. 

The high-ceilinged and generously lit studio is divided into two spaces. A steep stair leads to a mezzanine and balcony that overlooks the workspace. Like theatrical props, a group of sculptures, each with its temperament and presence, ominously survey the workspace below. These raw and primitive expressions, cast in plaster and assembled with wood or ceramic, are an obscure hybrid assembly of mythological creatures who are not immediately welcoming. Along with the upright standing piano, they play a crucial role in the artist's oeuvre, adding depth and significance to understanding the artist's practice.

In the workspace, many canvases are neatly stacked and grouped by size. Like pages in a novel, the painted images are inward, introverted, and anonymous, as if not to disturb the artist's workflow. On one wall, several smaller paintings are hung closely. Two easels, one with a newly started painting, can be positioned depending on how daylight falls into the room. Hans van der Ham's paintings, ranging from large-scale 300 x 200 cm to intimate portraits 40 x 30 cm, showcase his versatility and ability to work across different scales and styles. The recurring theme of characters exists not just as archetypal symbols but as figures with dialogues and agendas. Expressively and sculpturally painted, awkward in stature, poised in land and cityscapes, they render a vulnerable and poetic sensitivity. Multi-layered, their uncanny strength is their fragility, a testament to the artist’s haptic and direct painting method where layering becomes a liberating condition for something new.

An immediate assumption would be to see Ham´s art as (New) Brut Art, a phrase initially coined in the 1940s by the French painter Jean Dubuffet, or the later Outsider Art, a term introduced by the art critic Rodger Cardinal in the 1970s. Although these themes can be relevant when underpinning how we interpret Hams's art, they fall short in placing him in a contemporary context. In a recent conversation, we traced threads to the German painter Mark Lupitz and the Young Wild movement from the 80s and 90s. However, although there are definite crossings, we can’t immediately understand Hams's practice in the political vein that ran through his neighbouring colleagues. 

Finding bridges from different sources is labyrinthine. We see classical painting traditions that deal with a psychological and existential aspect, also embedded in Hams's work. Archetypes play a significant role in Ham's figures. On the one hand, they confront us with sides of our fragility and simultaneously question our collective and subconscious understanding that we stand together alone. 

Hams figures are seldom in flight together. They may reside in the same place or space, but their presence is that of lonely riders. They may interact, but are they acting with an exact cause? Do they have the same intentions? These aspects of crisis bring Ham into the postdigital realm that underpins his importance in Dutch contemporary painting.