Front Page | Jan-Hein Arens

Hello World

Jan-Hein Arens (born on September 23, 1974 in Vught, the Netherlands) is a painter, sculptor and illustrator. He studied graphic design and illustration at the Grafische School Eindhoven from 1992 until 1996.

The art of Arens concentrates on basic human needs and emotions. By adding different, strange elements, often painted in a realistic way, or placing them out of context the spectator is forced to make up his/her own reason or meaning for the work.

Humour and alienation are essential elements in Arens’ work. Small scribbles of text written directly on the canvas with pen and ink complete the image or just ad confusion.

Whats new?

Project Alienation

Project Alienation (or Alien Nation) is an art project by Jan-Hein Arens. It consists of eight animations with alienation as an overlapping theme. During the corona pandemic people got used to keep their distance from one another. The longer the pandemic lasted, the more estranged people became; they alienated from the basic things that make us humans. This inspired Arens to make these animations. The project can be found here: Project Alienation (or Aliennation).

One of the eight animations.

The animations are made to be moving drawings; they are not intended to tell a story where time is involved or where a plot presents itself at the end of the film. Just drawings. Except they move every now and then.

This project was made possible by Kunstloc Brabant. Arens received a grant; the ‘Perspectiefbudget’ to work on this project for quite some time.

Art as an App

As part of the art project ‘Schatten van Zonneheuvel’ Arens was asked to develop an artwork for people with limited vision. Together with people from of a residency where elderly with a visual disability live he developed an app that could be enjoyed without sight. The app is called ‘Loftrompet Deluxe’ (it is in Dutcht only) and it functions as a compliments generator. With the press of a button a random compliment is generated for the user. It even contains the option to make the compliments rhetorical. For the people at the residency the app is installed on a tablet with a custom made external big red button, which can be found on touch.

The app can be found in Google Play and can be installed on most modern Android devices. For now it is only available in Dutch but there are some vague plans to develop an English version.
There are currently no plans to release a version for iOS, but you’ll never know.

Meeting the people in the neighbourghood

Hamptons Fine Art Fair

Morton Contemporary will be present at the Hamptons Fine Art Fair (July 14 / 17, Southampton Fairgrounds, New York) with a selection of their artists. One of these artists is Jan-Hein Arens. He created a new collection of four 40/40 inch paintings that will be shown at the fair.

Tickets to the fair are available now at hamptonsfineartfair.com

Featured Morton Contemporary artist: Adam Handler, Nathan Paddison, Jan Hein Arens, Sniqus and Esther Ziher-Ginczinger

Art in Public Space part 1

Arens was asked to make a work for a neighbourhood. This was part of a bigger project; Schatten van Zonneheuvel, with artists Carola Mokveld and Angelique Kleijne. The residents were all quite different; some elderly, some foreigners, some gay people, some young people etc etc. They have all lived together problem free since the start, and continue to be a close community where anybody can be themselves and just gets accepted for who they are. A rough translation of the text on the drawing: “…and as it turned out to be, in exactly the same way we are all completely different”Ink and acrylics on paper, photographed and printed on acrylic glass, 20/20 cm.

For this project a total of six artworks will be installed over the course of three months. On August 27 the second artwork by Arens will be revealed.

Large scale paintings at Morton Contemporary

Morton Contemporary Gallery in Philadelphia (USA) now has six new large scale paintings in stock. These paintings were painted from January to March 2022 specifically for the gallery.

If you would like to know more about the paintings or the gallery, visit their website.

Affordable Art Fair Stockholm

From 14 till 17 October 2021 the Affordable Art Fair Stockholm will take place in, you guessed it, Stockholm, Sweden. Carré d’Artistes Amsterdam will be there with a selection of their artists, including the work of Jan-Hein Arens.

Another great media campaign.

Fair overview

The 9th edition of Affordable Art Fair Stockholm showcases 1000s of contemporary artworks from 40 hand-picked local and international galleries. Whether you’re a seasoned collector, or looking for your first limited-edition print, the fair is the perfect place to learn more about art and refine your taste. So, mark your diary and prepare to discover new and exciting art from around the world!

You can find more information on their website.

Morton Contemporary Art Gallery

Jan-Hein Arens’s work is now available at Morton Contemporary Art Gallery in Philadelphia, USA. A selection of drawings and sculptures is available at the gallery and on their website.

This is my marketing campaign.

About Morton Contemporary:

Morton Contemporary Art Gallery is the culmination of 15 years of passion for fine contemporary art. Our diverse contemporary art collection ranges from original works on canvas to sculpture, mixed-media, and photography. We specialize in representing and promoting innovative emerging and established artists from around the world.

Morton Contemporary embodies an ethical as well as aesthetic vision, a commitment to equity and inclusion in tune with worldwide social movements. Debbie Morton, owner and founder of Morton Contemporary, aims to diversify not only the audience for fine art, but its source by elevating the work of traditionally underrepresented artists such as women and artists of color from around the globe. Debbie Morton actively participates in local philanthropic endeavors including supporting fundraising efforts for nonprofits and increasing engagement between artists and their communities.

New batch of sculptures

A fresh batch of five ‘Boy with Asymmetrical Ears’ sculptures came out of the oven a while ago. These little bastards are painted with a bit more blue. the sculptures are slip cast and painted with acrylics. You can find more information about the sculptures here. If you are interested in buying one click here.

Ceramic Sculpture

Boy With Asymmetrical Ears is a limmited edition sculpture. The sculpture is cast with slip (liquid clay) into a mould. Once it is released from the mould it dries for a couple of days and small corrections are made. Then it is stacked in a ceramics oven which is fired to 980 degrees celsius.
The first batch of five is painted with acrylics.

This ceramic sculpture is for indoor use only. Outside it will probably crack from low temperatures, bleach in the sun or get stolen by jealous neighbours.

Affordable Art Fair 2020

From 29 October till 1 November 2020 there will be another Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam. The effortlessly cool de Kromhouthal will be packed with 1000s of affordable pieces all priced at €7,500 or under. Browse works by fresh, contemporary artists exhibited by local, national and international galleries.

The work of Jan-Hein Arens will be there on display at the booth of Carré d’Artistes. More information about the Affordable Art Fair can be found here.