One of the crafts by which the monks supported themselves was ceramics. The former pottery of St. Paul’s Abbey in Oosterhout is being opened for the first time this biennial. It is a Sleeping Beauty-like place. Dust has been accumulating on the old turntables, molds and kilns for two decades. In the showroom of that time will be a mini-exhibition of ceramics by Venezuelan-Aruban Samuel Sarmiento.
Striking about the detailed work of this self-taught artist are the paintings from the loose that are richly decorated with glazes, lusters and gold leaf. Samuel Sarmiento depicts humanity in all its facets – religion, (cultural) history, colonialism, migration. A sense of unity speaks from his painted sculptures: everything is connected to everyone. Caribbean myths are a favorite. His representations also reveal that Caribbean and European archetypes share many similarities.
Samuel Sarmiento, Procesiones infinitas Voorkant
Samuel Sarmiento, De oorsprong van de werelden (Caribische Mythe) 2024 Voorkant
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Portret Samuel Sarmiento, 2024 (foto Fred Sonnega)