"An idea for a painting should be repeatable. A good idea should produce multiple works. If it doesn't, it is a random idea and probably not a good one."
Van Merendonk’s oeuvre has been developed during a 40 year period and consists mainly of paintings and works on paper.
Almost all of Jos van Merendonk’s paintings have been derived from three combined motives: a zigzag, an oval shape, and a superimposed Z. These three forms, first conceived on a piece of paper in 1983, appear in different guises. In essence they are the basis for everything Van Merendonk makes.
Van Merendonk works in a single pronounced color: chrome oxide green, in Germany referred to as Cologne bridge green, a pigment that is considered most stable and neutral. The paintings are executed in a square format that vary in size: 40 × 40 cm, 60 × 60 cm, 100 x 100 cm or 200 × 200 cm.
With a concept of three motives and a single colour in mind a spectator discovers order in an apparent chaos. This is intentional. The artist has created a broad playing field in which the motifs have taken refuge in the color green.
Jos van Merendonk, born in 1956 in Tilburg, lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.