Erik Van Lieshout, Netherlands

Saturday, 18 February 2012 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Erik is one of Holland’s most prominent artists and his provocative works treat sex, violence, politics, and commercial culture with equal humour, candor, and irreverence.

Trained as a painter, van Lieshout became well-known in the 1990s for his expressionistic canvases and large-scale drawings which merge graphic images of drugs, pornography, and street culture with a range of media figures including Burka-clad women, Batman, and rapper Snoop Dogg.

Van Lieshout places himself directly in the center of his videos using his experience as a crucible to interpret the complex psychology of a nation grappling with immigration, tolerance, colonialism, and sexuality.