Het geluid van windkracht acht 1980

Harrie Gerritz made this print, Het geluid van windkracht acht, or ‘The Sound of Wind Force Eight’, using a screen printing process. There’s a starkness and simplicity to the image, like a child’s drawing, but don’t be fooled, there is a real sophistication at play here. The colour palette is muted, almost drab, and limited to just a few tones. Look closely at how flat these colours are, how they butt up against each other. This isn’t about blending or creating a sense of depth. It’s like Gerritz is building the image from hard-edged shapes. Take the tree: it’s rendered with a single, bold green, bent almost double, as if resisting the force of nature. Gerritz’s print reminds me of the work of the American artist, Alex Katz. Both artists are interested in the distillation of form, and in capturing a feeling more than an image. It's this interest in affect that makes art so endlessly renewable.