Justus Donker (XX) - Love My Bitch

Original work by Justus Donker
Mixed technique on canvas

signed on the side

In this colorful work, the hand-painted text “LOVE MY BITCH” forms the central image. The words are built up from thick, almost sculptural layers of paint that lie visibly above the surface. Around the text are loose brushstrokes and color fields applied in, among others, yellow, orange, red, blue, green and black.
The combination of coarse brushwork, black contour lines and the almost untreated white ground gives the work a raw and direct appearance. The provocative text contrasts with the cheerful, bright colors and gives the whole a playful yet at the same time brazen character.
The work reads as a typical example of a free, expressive painting approach in which text, color and gesture together determine the image. The visible paint texture and informal composition reinforce the spontaneous character of the work.

Donker became known in the early 1990s as a member of the group After Nature, of which he was part from 1989 until its dissolution in 1995. Other members of the group were Peter Klashorst, Jurriaan van Hall, Bart Domburg and Ernst Voss. The first exhibition of After Nature with Donker took place in 1990 at the Seasons Galerie in The Hague. In the ensuing years, the members of this group visited the United States several times to participate in exhibitions and painting performances.
With his fellow painter brothers Gijs Donker (1964) and Aad Donker (1967-1998), who were also members of After Nature, he became known as one of 'the Donker brothers'. After the death of his brother Aad, Donker stopped painting for several years and moved to Wehe-den Hoorn in the province of Groningen. In 2009 he moved back to Leiden, where he grew up.