Theofanie mural painting
Theofanie Up and Out, a mural by artist Gijs Frieling & team, Schunck Heerlen, Augustus 18 2020 – July 6, 2021.
Making a mural in one week’s time at the ‘Glaspaleis‘ (Glass Palace) in Heerlen, NL. A true troupe artistique consisting of members of Gijs Frieling’s son Daan’s band the Koalaz, two other children Eva and Job, plus a couple of others including me. Most of us never touched a brush before in our lives, so paiting on walls was a bit exiting, to put it mildly…
About the project (Text courtesy Schunck)
In 2020, Gijs Frieling designed a remarkable landscape of plants, people and objects for SCHUNK’s staircase. He drew his inspiration from SCHUNCK’s collection, which holds a special significance for him. His works guide you upwards, like a mountain path, via the various levels, to the top of the Glaspaleis.
Gijs and daughter Eva.
Apparition
A ‘theophany’ is a visible manifestation of a deity to human. The term is used to refer to an apparition of the gods in the myths of Ancient Greek and Middle Eastern civilisations.
In choosing this theme, an oblique reference is made to the work of Aad de Haas. During his first visit to Parkstad, Frieling visited the St Cunibertus church in Wahlwiller, which contains de Haas’ famous stations of the cross. It was one of the many elements expressed in Frieling’s mural.
Frieling was also inspired by the staircase itself, in which he drew parallels with the famous glass lift in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. In the story, Charlie travelled skywards by pressing the red ‘Up and out’ lift button.
Practising with gradation loaded brushes…
Working with caseïn paint on hot windowpanes: like kneading chewing gum.
Watch the video on Youtube.
About Gijs Frieling
Gijs Frieling (b. 1966, Amsterdam) won the prestigious Dutch Koninklijke Prijs voor Vrije Schilderkunst in 1994, the 1999 Prix de Rome and the 2009 Cobra Arts Prize. After studying at the Rietveldacademie and the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, he now teaches at the Rietveldacademie, the Sandberg Instituut and De Ateliers in Amsterdam. He also works as a consultant for the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht. From 2006 to 2010 he was director and main curator for the artists’ collective known as W139 in Amsterdam. At the current time, he is art consultant for the Chief Government Architect of the Netherlands and a member of the jury for the Koninklijke Prijs voor de Vrije Schilderkunst.