The Dutch artist Gerard Extra studied at the Academy of Applied Arts in Maastricht in the publicity department and graphics in 1966 and attended the Art Academy in Maastricht MO crafts where he graduated in 1977.
Gerard Extra makes no attempt to argument in his work but to investigate
into communication. How can you make people understand? And where does it start
and where does it end? A work on canvas has literal boundaries and one seems not
to be able to paint outside that canvas. Extra works around this problem by
working both in depth and height. Layer upon layer upon layer upon layer upon
layer of line, color and take their apparent spontaneity to an unexpected
coding. This dynamic layering is a fever-like collection of new ideas, with the
aim to convert a past in a tangible present. Extra's work is in an eternal
"intermediate," vacillating between start and end. As a viewer, you are invited
to fill in at will as an imaginary work. The result is a continuous stream of
experiences that never really stops or pauses briefly. Instead, there is work in
a constant state of metamorphosis, which require us to understand more. Work by
Gerard Extra can be seen with high regularity in exhibitions in the Netherlands,
Belgium, Slovenia and Italy. Gerard Extra lives and works from his studio in one
of the most beautiful parts of South Limburg in the Netherlands.
www.gerardextra.com