Is time travel possible within the object or act of painting?

And does the past always linger in the present?

The paintings of Kees Visser and John Zurier converse in many respects. They paint abstract color field paintings, consisting of many layers. However, there is a clear difference between their works and their artistic methods are different.

“Painting counters the world’s cacophony,” John says when I ask him what painting means to him. “In painting, something and nothing can exist together side by side in the same place and time without opposing or destroying each other.”

The time in painting

John’s works evoke a strong sense of time. The titles underline this experience. Time as memory, or a feeling. Like the artist is eager to grasp a moment, using a medium that demands time. “I want a feeling of stillness and a continuum, and time moving in an envelope of color and light. The present moment is instantaneous. It’s fast. So fast we usually miss it. I’m trying to pay attention to it when painting and what happens then is the present feels slower.”

John’s paintings are light, the layers are thin and in the work process he removes some of them before he continues. The result is a painting where the process shines through, as well as the texture of the canvas. The feeling is light.

“Kees is always moving forward, whereas I look to the past,” John says when the three of us meet and chat over a cup of coffee. He’s referring to the fact that Kees adds layers without removing them, like John does. This is how Kees' work becomes weighty. Many layers on top of each other make the painting’s surface sculptural, when the paint dries it creates a texture reminiscent of moss on the bark of a tree.