Seemingly ordinary moments are made exciting by Erik's realism
Erik Tierolf (1963) has a wonderful way of working in terms of content. He starts from a special attitude of people, the shape of objects and makes a story out of that. Never the other way around. A story emerges from a staircase, a table, a surf, a meadow in which a person stands, sits or lies. That intrigues. The great thing is that you always keep looking and wondering what exactly is happening. Time and time again. Tierolf graduated from the AKI Art & Design Enschede ArtEZ (formerly 'Academy for Art and Industry') in Enschede. Since 1991 he has been making realistic work, mainly paintings in oil on canvas. Tierolf painted a number of captivating canvases for Galerie Barentsz & de Duif. In other work, Tierolf takes the viewer to a world that resembles ours, but is still different. A world in which he mixes reality and fantasy, and depicts the improbable in a credible way.
Tierolf has lived and worked in Bergen, North Holland, since 1997. His birthplace Renesse and his current place of residence are similar in many ways; both are close to the sea, close to the forest, but also close to the open landscape. The sea and the water are a source of inspiration and play a major role in his creations. Tierolf is a member of the Dutch Association of Marine Painters. In addition to small-format paintings, Tierolf also creates monumental works. Motorcycles, cars and industrial heritage are the setting for scenes that appeal to the imagination and stimulate the viewer's fantasy. He composes his paintings with great patience and a love of detail. The expressiveness of his work lies in his choice of the representation that he puts on the canvas. At first glance beautiful, realistic images that only reveal the existence of a deeper meaning at second glance through the alienated elements. With his work, Tierolf provides commentary on all kinds of aspects of existence. Tierolf exhibits in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Denmark, France, Israel and the United States. Several museums have his work in their collections.