Klaas Gubbels: Calvinist?
In the ARCO pavilion, Klaas Gubbels (1934) displays his iconic coffee pots, tables and chairs. The subjects of his artworks may seem ordinary and mundane, but that is precisely what inspires Gubbels. Depicting ‘the ordinary’ and repeating simple forms allows him to focus on the painting itself and to not get lost in the subject.
The paintings on show are called ‘reformed paintings’. Gubbels himself describes them as follows: works that show that they have been thought about for a long time. They are paintings that reflect the lengthy process behind the seemingly simple and repetitive works of art. For these paintings, Gubbels has a ‘viewing room’ in his studio. As soon as he has made a painting, he puts it in his viewing room and looks at it until he knows how to finish them.
