Daan Roukens (1987) is a Dutch visual artist, known for his diverse and colourful abstract self-portraits. He portrays what is going on in his head in an abstract way. Through his art he gives new value to daily life by questioning contradictions that most people take for granted. Various opposing answers can coexist and together they exceed thinking in black-and-white terms. “I change everyday recognizable things in such a way that it broadens my perspective and that of the viewer.”

He continuously experiences a restless feeling as a result of the tension between order and chaos and is always searching for the connection between the two. Such as contradictions between colours or patterns and breaking through those patterns, but also in making choices. “When I experience too much chaos, I let my obsessive perfectionism run free and if that structure becomes too dominant, I will add chaos again. This allows me to connect both and to create a peace of mind, which feels like a sublime experience. I feel the strong need to take the viewer into this process in order to experience the same as I do.“ 

Daan Roukens successfully graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art at AKV St. Joost (Den Bosch, 2009) and obtained his Master of Fine Art degree at the Sandberg Instituut (Amsterdam, 2018). His work varies from autonomous projects to commissions and he also initiates his own exhibitions. His abstract self-portraits are known by a broad audience and are exhibited at museums, galleries, shops and fairs. He lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Expect Nothing, Appreciate Everything

Expect Nothing, Appreciate Everything is a result on how my abstract art can play a part in daily life. A two year research for my Masters program at the Sandberg Instituut. In this series, inspired by Google’s colour logo, I searched for new forms of communication from the painting process and abstraction.

Say Yes When You Want To Say No

Say Yes When You Want To Say No is an artwork that includes a series of paintings and short videos. The paintings are a result of the interaction between my obsessive perfectionism and searching for ways to oppose it. I used several experiments in the painting process to free myself from that obsessiveness in such a way that it broadened my perspective and to achieve that piece of mind.

21 May   Graduation Show: Reinventing Daily Life

With great pleasure I would like to invite you to the Graduation Show exhibition: Reinventing Daily Life. I will present a research on how abstract art can play a part in daily life.

15 Apr   Exhibition: Park Hotel Amsterdam

With great pleasure I announce my exhibition at Park Hotel Amsterdam. I will present a series of paintings at their lobby for the duration of 7 weeks. Park Hotel is right next to the Rijksmuseum.

06 Apr   Exhibition: Zandvoorts Museum

Photos from the exhibition ‘Van Mondriaan tot Dutch Design’ at Zandvoorts Museum. I exhibited three paintings as part of the national celebration of 100 years De Stijl.