> Exhibition

20 Hands in 2020

2020 has just passed but we can hardly draw a line that separates it from the present. It has been a year that preyed on the weak and the sick; a year that claimed lives and tested trust; a year filled with division and panic; a year flooded with frustration and isolation. It’s our 2020.

Why hands? Hands are challenging to draw: the muscles, blood vessels, accessoires, and lights; the dynamics, gestures, positioning and even how aged the skin is. When not presented together with the faces, the meaning of these hands can be generalised. It is also a language whose semantics varies depending on the reader.

This small exhibition consists of 12 paintings of 20 hands. Due to lockdowns in the Netherlands, the exhibition only took place online. This page is an archive.

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Promotion Video

The video is originally made for the promotion of the exhibition.

#1 See you again

Death was an unavoidable topic in 2020. It could have been an accident, a planned bio-weapon attack, or a murder. However, hardly do people in our times associate it with a global pandemic for us sapiens. I don’t know how all this will come to an end, but I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again, Kobe.

✳ Based on a photo of Kobe Bryant’s hands and feet print at the TCL Chinese Theatre In Los Angeles, USA.

#2 No magic

It’s been a year that preyed on the weak and the vulnerable. Some had to take on all kinds of temporary jobs for a living. There is no magic. The virus won’t disappear like a miracle.

✳ The hands are from a portrait photo of a magician.

#3 The resting knife

It’s been a very hard time for bars and restaurants, as well as chefs, servers, etc. When unemployment becomes an issue, the same knife that served you can also cause violence and riots.

✳ The painting was glued on a chopping board.

#4 The washing hands

The shortage of medical supplies was made worse by inequality between nations.

✳ The most popular advertisement of the year is to wash/disinfect your hands.

#5 The sound of a pandemic

I will never forget the concerts on the balconies and the live streams during quarantine and lockdown. Music has a magic power to heal. I surely know it now. You are not left alone. You are not facing it by yourself. We are here to keep you company, all of us.

✳ Based on a photo taken in a cello lesson.

#6 僕が死のうと思ったのは

You are not left alone. You are not facing it by yourself. We are here to keep you company, all of us.

✳ Displayed in a golden-color frame and surrounded with butterflies on the back.

#7 Holding a bible

How to hold a bible?

How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just didn't see?

How many deaths will it take until he knows that too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind...

✳ My first charcoal drawing since childhood :D

#8 Key

It’s hard to hold the temper and maintain values when one’s actions are driven by emotions.

✳ The key was kindly offered by my flatmate after my bike was stolen.

#9 In the name of science, we trust

Beside Donald Trump stands this man. He is short and he doesn’t speak as loud. However, His words matter because he speaks in the name of science.

✳ Based on a photo of Dr. Anthony Fauci speaking in the White House.

✳ The masks were brushed with a thin layer of glue to hold the colors of the markers and pasted on a clipboard.

#10 The Merkel diamond

Cold in evidence-based policy making. Warm when showing empathy.

✳ Based on a photo of the corresponding Wikipedia page.

#11 Heal the world

What happened forced us into a new form of living and working which is worth thinking and designing.

It won’t be short (soon) before we can shake hands again. Together, let’s make it a better place, for you and for me, and the entire human race.

✳ A creative use of the most demanded product of 2020 - the toilet paper. It was dissolved and reformed using a paper-making frame with flowers as decoration.

#12 What a wonderful world

The EU’s long-term recovery plan will probably leave its next generation in debt. I’m not sure what this means to them but I’m sure they will learn much more than we will ever know.

✳ Based on a photo from the dad who is a nurse.

Details

The interpretation of items is inspired by the models but should not be taken personally. All the paintings were given away for free. It is my honor to have the items collected by the following people.

Models and Collectors

Item	Model	Collector
Item 1	Kobe Bryant (basketball player)	Majd
Item 2	Quintus van Amstel (magician)	Quintus van Amstel
Item 3	Jim Verberg (chef)	Jim Verberg
Item 4	An anonymous people from the news (probably an African girl)	Tobias van der Bijl
Item 5	Antonis Pratsinakis (cellist)	Antonis Pratsinakis
Item 6	Margaux Pons (psychologist)	Margaux Pons
Item 7	Willem Nieuwboer (evangelist)	Willem Nieuwboer
Item 8	Shuai Wang (student)	Micha Meinderts
Item 9	Anthony Fauci (physician and immunologist)	Frank
Item 10	Angela Merkel (politician)	Jan-Jelle de Meijer
Item 11	Two anonymous people (probably two business women)	Felix Martin
Item 12	Jeremiah Niles and Sela Niles (a nurse and his daughter)	Jeremiah and Natasja Niles

Specifications

Item	Media	Theme	Size
Item 1	Oil painting	Death	15x23cm
Item 2	Acrylic painting	The vulnerable	32x23cm
Item 3	Acrylic painting	Unemployment	21x30cm
Item 4	Watercolor painting	Protection	21x28cm
Item 5	Acrylic painting	Healing	40x130cm
Item 6	Oil painting	Mental Health	14x20cm
Item 7	Charcoal drawing	Belief	22x28cm
Item 8	Acrylic painting	Values	29x23cm
Item 9	Marker drawing	Trust	29x21cm
Item 10	Acrylic painting	Leadership	36x52cm
Item 11	Acrylic painting	Resilience	19x25cm
Item 12	Pencil drawing	Hope	21x38cm

Acknowledgement

The exhibition received 189 visitors in 2 weeks (mostly in the first two days). Thanks to the following people for your help, encouragement and inspiration.

Thank you all!

Thanks to the following people for your help, encouragement and inspiration.: Antonis Pratsinakis, for your inspiration;

Minghong Yu, for your encouragement and referral;

Fin Zhao and Ziyue, for your trust and kindly renting out your precious gallery;

Yunzhen Kuang, for your encouragement and your feedback;

Yeong Guk Lee (Boy), for lending me your camera;

Łukasz Koterba, for your inspiration;

Jeremiah Niels, for proof reading the text.
Very special thanks to: Jennifer Stock, for your inspiration and discovery of my art talent;

Quintus van Amstel, for your inspiration and trust;

Gaurav Sehrawat, for your help with this website and your feedback!
Special guests.: Javier Torras Casas (artist, UK/Spain)

Cristian Mercado (actor & director & musician, Bolivia)

Christoph Muller (artist, Switzerland)

Stefan Balay (director, France)

Roy Seerden (director, the Netherlands)

Erik Alkema (artist & director, the Netherlands)

Lars Laumann (artist, Norway)

Caroline van Bavel (singer, the Netherlands)

Antonis Pratsinakis (cellist, the Netherlands)

Miaoyi Shih (buddhist master, Taiwan/the Netherlands)

Elix Wenjia Liu (actress, the Netherlands/China)

Lucian Paul-Trifu (computer engineer, Romania/UK)

Ethan Tan (businessman, Singapore)

Aaron Clark (manager, USA)

Igor Zen and Caio Sampaio (dentists, Brazil)

Francisco Braccini (DRM engineer, Brazil)

Alessandro Devo and Cecilia Cristinariu (computer scientists, Italy)

Reference

The Image of Kobe

The Photo of Dr. Fauci

The Photo of the washing hands

The Wikipedia page of Merkel-Raute

The background music: Cold, by Jorge Méndez (in the promotion video)

The video by Unilad Tech Macrofying (at the beginning of the the promotion video)

Webpage template 'Story' by HTML5 UP (html5up.net)