Jan van der Ploeg

Inspired by the philosophy of neoplasticism and the De Stijl movement, which was developed and led by his fellow Dutchman Piet Mondrian, Jan van der Ploeg is known for his abstract paintings rendered on canvas and walls. Stripping down painting to its essences of color and form, Van der Ploeg works in black, white, and a rainbow of brightly hued colors, and with a vocabulary of bold, geometric patterns and shapes. He covers canvases with these forms, creating compositions that seem to move. He began working on walls in the mid-1990s, and has since completed hundreds of murals worldwide. Though Van der Ploeg operates within the parameters he sets for himself, he finds freedom within structure and allows intuition to guide his color choices. “It sounds as if it’s very restricted, but . . . a lot is possible,” he has said, a statement supported by his endlessly varied works.