Gang of 4

Aldert Mantje - Peter Kempff - Menno Schenk - Toon den Heijer

About

Artworks

CV

Promised Land, Oil on Canvas, 100 x 140 cm

About

G4, short for "Gang of four", is an artists' collective consisting of Aldert Mantje, Peter Kempff, Toon den Heijer and Menno Schenk. They met in 2014 and decided to start a collective. The artists each have their own role within the collective, but nevertheless regard each other as equal. Peter Kempff often forms the basis through his realistic way of painting, while Toon den Heijer gives an extra division with his abstract painting style. Menno Schenk provides the graphic lines for the contrast in the canvases and Aldert Mantje provides an alienating character with his symbolic figurative painting style. Every artist makes his own addition to a work time after time without the individual touch disappearing. The paintings of G4 are also called "Journalistic Paintings". They often take a newspaper photo as a starting point and partially paint it. In this way they indicate that every painting originates from current events, which they then reinterpret.

The G4 gained a lot of acknowledgement for their series “The famous Artist School”. The Famous Artist School consists of around 600 drawn portraits of visual artists, who have united in movements and movements. Together these artists form a more or less chronological family tree with branches and cross connections.

“The G4 collective feels like a band. For many rock bands in our history, there is an equal division of roles. Each member contributes to songs and one plays on each other's instruments, without the musicians losing their individual position. This is also the case with collective G4. They each have their own role. We could set a clear formation. Peter Kempff with his trained hand often forms the basis of the painting through the realistic way of painting. Toon den Heijer gives this basis an extra dimension with his abstract painting style. Menno Schenk provides the contrast in the canvases with mostly graphic lines. And Aldert Mantje gives the works their alienated and innovative character with his symbolic figurative style of painting. G4 also considers each other equal in making work. Each member contributes to every painting without the individual touch disappearing.”
Lieneke Hulshof - Mister Motley