NAME: Jeroen Evertz (1973)
Born: Trintelen (NL)
Lives in: Maastricht (NL)
Artist’s statement –
‘I like to remember things my way, not necessarily the way they happened’ – Fred Madison Because of often contradictory interests, it is hard to decide what is real and who decides what is real nowadays: advertisements, politics, technology, nature or we? I would like to add my works to this list. As a research to the simultaneous existence of different realities, the difference between “lightness” and “appearance”, the impossibility to hold a memory and the thin line between control and madness. The results are closely connected to everyone’s individual experiences: the truth is all in how you see it. Fred Madison is the protagonist in Lost Highway (David Lynch, 1997)
MV – Favourite movies & directors –
According my own art work David Lynch is a big influence. Since I’ve seen Wild at Heart for the second time, I became a fan of his movies. I did three installation art works as homage to Fred Madison, the protagonist of Lost Highway. Inland Empire is one of the best movies I ever saw. And the Twin Peaks series is a must see, at least every two years. Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining are also artistic influences. My actual list of like-a-lot movies is long.
MV – Favourite books & authors –
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Andy Warhol’s biography by Victor Bockris and Patrick Süskind’s Perfum are the titles that came to my mind first.
MV – Favourite cultural centres or museums –
V&A Museum, Tate Modern, Camden Arts Centre in London, KW in Berlin, Moma in New York, Het Domein in Sittard, Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Schunck* in Heerlen, Museum Ludwig in Köln, Stedelijk Museum, SMBA in Amsterdam. All these places did art shows I visited which changed the way I think about art.
MV – Your most aesthetically (sensual/ spiritual/ intellectual) inspired experience
Almost every time I see bands perform live. Reading a text about a subject I really have a connection with. The artist-in-residencies I did in Rotterdam, Yogyakarta and Prague. Finishing an art work that you still like after all the time you’ve spent producing it.
MV – Art (books, movie, exhibition, museum, etc) wish list –
My top 3: 1.) Hieronymous Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights 2.) Damien Hirst’s For the Love of God 3.) Tattoo (full body piece) by Kat von D I’m afraid the list is quite long…
MV – Artist/character (in any field) with whom you identify the most –
For today I will choose Alabama Whitman, one of the main characters in True Romance (Tony Scott, 1993). One of my favourite movie quotes: “I’m gonna go jump in the tub and get all slippery and soapy and then hop in that waterbed and watch X-rated movies ’till you get your ass back in my lovin’ arms.” A tough, honest, down to earth character who dares to go for her love and is open minded about her life. But tomorrow it might be Jimmy Durham or Keith Richards or Selah Sue…
MV – Most inspiring city –
London, Berlin and probably Los Angeles, I’ve never been to L.A…. but Maastricht is a good place to live and work, as long as you travel to other places every now and then.
MV – Most influential – person, character, artist, filmmaker, writer, etc –
Anybody who works hard and believes in what he or she does can be a big influence. From Special Agent Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks, 1990) to Kat von D (tattoo artist) and from Alabama Whitman (True Romance) to Rik Meijers (artist, Maastricht).
MV – Most challenging aspect of working in the entertainment/ art world (& its institutions) –
To be honest to yourself and your artworks, live your own life, find your own ways. And dare to have dreams…
MV – Most gratifying aspect of being a part of the entertainment/ art world (& its institutions) –
To have the possibility to show any person there might be another point of view.
MV – Always carry with you … –
My (big) Freitag bag, to take things from anywhere with me to my work, to my studio, to my house…
MV – What are arts patrons’ (including film investors or collectors) responsibilities, if any?
They have to believe in the artists they work with and give them enough space to do what they do best but at the same time they have to be critical in an inspiring way.
MV – What are artists’ responsibilities to their art or(?) to society, if any?
I think artists must make visually interesting artworks and beware of getting stuck in only conceptual blahblah.
MV – (Art world) Pet peeves –
If it’s only make-believe and nothing more, then I’m gone.
MV- What else?
…I think I’ve said enough for now, so I’ll add another quote by my alter-ego for today, Alabama Whitman: “I had to come all the way from the highway and byways of Tallahassee, Florida to Motor City, Detroit to find my true love. If you gave me a million years to ponder, I would never have guessed that true romance and Detroit would ever go together. And ’til this day, the events that followed all still seem like a distant dream. But the dream was real and was to change our lives forever. I kept asking Clarence why our world seemed to be collapsing and things seemed to be getting so shitty. And he’d say, “that’s the way it goes, but don’t forget, it goes the other way too.” That’s the way romance is… Usually, that’s the way it goes, but every once in awhile, it goes the other way too.”