Bart Kok (b. 1985) lives and works in the Netherlands. He graduated with an MA from St. Lucas School of Arts in Antwerp, Belgium in 2015 and completed the Manama Program at St. Lucas in 2017. Borrowing from art history, his oeuvre features abstract portraits of faceless figures and kaleidoscope-like landscapes.
Bart Kok actively addresses the act of painting in his works, influenced by the landscapes of Gustav Klimt, the colour tones of van Gogh and the bold tones featured in Fauvist works. He applies bright colours of brushstrokes onto the canvas, creating fantastical, imaginary realms that evoke contrasting themes such as life and death, tranquillity and chaos, as well as happiness and melancholy.
His works have been the subject of solo exhibitions, including ‘An Acorn Fell On My Head’ at SENS Gallery (Hong Kong, 2022), ‘Never a dull little stroll’ (2022) and ‘You are a painter, do your job and let those who can, talk’ (2019) at Althuis Hofland Fine Arts (Amsterdam), ‘releaseparty, 3 lithographs by Bart Kok’ at Mischkin Editions (Amsterdam, 2019), ‘THE IDEOLOGY OF PIPESMOKING’ at Ornis A. Gallery (Amsterdam, 2017), ‘MET DE TRAAGHEID VAN HET DROGEN (With the slowness of drying)’ at Kavka (Antwerp, 2014) and ‘Word of Mouth’ at De Showroom (Antwerp, 2013).
Selected group shows include ‘OEOEartcall online exhibition’ at Tiniminiroom (Dordrecht, 2022), ‘Grenswerk’ at TAC (Eindhoven, 2020) and MOM Artspace (Hamburg, 2019), ‘Prospects and Concepts’ at Van Nellfabriek (Rotterdam, 2019), ‘Quicksand’ (Antwerp, 2017), ‘Young new painters’ at Ornis A. Gallery (2017), ‘IN HET MIDDEN’ at TAC temporary art centre (Eindhoven, 2015-16), ‘No More Heroes’ at Breda (2013) and ‘Breaking the wall’ at De Fabriek (Eindhoven, Netherlands, 2012).
He has won the Royal Award for Painting in 2016. He has participated art fairs including Art Rotterdam from 2017-2022, Art021 Shanghai 2023 and Art Central Hong Kong 2023. His work is in the collections of Ahold Kunstcollectie, KPMG and Izala Zwolle, among others.