I am Lars den Hertog (born 1996 Maastricht, the Netherlands), a painter, poet and performer. My poetry and performances are extensions of my paintings, making painting the heart of my artistic practice. Through my work, I question and mirror myself as a white European cis gendered man in a contemporary western society.
While the position and definition of gender is being reconsidered, the understanding of man as a gender must be questioned and changed in order to create a more just, inclusive and socially cohesive society.
Why am I occupied with this? As a white man I am challenged by the stigmata of masculinity and the patriarchal society in which I was socialized, since I don’t consider myself as a stereotypical man within this patriarchal structure. Using myself, as a model and my emotions, in my work to show that man as a gender can be fluid, self defining and understood by individual desires. It’s okay to express, feel and deal with emotions. Therefore I create paintings in a Decadent tradition, in which men can be perceived as complex people, fighting and working at the same time with their emotions, questioning their sexuality and being vulnerable, curious and open minded. For example, I am currently working on a painting of a man who is writing a manuscript at a 19th century bureau while wearing nothing but stockings, spreading his legs open and leaving himself exposed.
This, to me, is a new course, a fresh wind I set my sails into.
LDH
July 2023