Graphite drawing “Cleopatra – 22-12-18” (2018) by Corné Akkers

Born in Nijmegen in 1969, Corné's work has been exhibited in many countries around the world. He employs a variety of styles, all sharing a common thread: the constant search for light within phenomena and all the shadows and layers of light that obscure them. His preferred media include oil paint, dry pastels, and graphite pencil. He observes that it is not the form or subject matter that matters, but rather the way in which layers of a particular tonal quality vary and block the light. Colors are relatively unimportant and can adopt any scheme. It is this tonal quality that is ever-present in his work, creating the illusion of depth and mass on a flat, two-dimensional plane. Corné combines figurative work with the pursuit of abstraction, because neither, in extreme cases, can deliver the desired artistic statement that the public expects from an artist. Furthermore, exaggeration and deviation are the standard and lead to the typical use of a bold color scheme and a wide tonal range to create art that would still be recognizable even if the canvas or paper were torn to pieces.