Errol Theunissen
University: Self-Taught
New Blood Art Commentary
There’s a tenderness in Middlesbrough-based, self-taught artist Errol Theunissen’s work that’s hard to describe but instantly felt. The figures are curled under blankets, stretched across blue sofas, held inside a gentle, safe domestic atmosphere. Embodied painting with folk qualities, colour handling and compositional control that feel contemporary. The children and animals aren’t performing for us. They’re simply there, inside a moment of closeness, where nothing needs to be explained.
The pleasure in Errol’s works is quiet and physical. Crisps, cartoons, pizza, a paddling pool. A dog pressed against your ribs. The kind of domestic safety that builds slowly, day after day, until it becomes a world. The emotional density of being safe, where the body is supported and nothing has to be said.
These works invite you to come closer and feel this unguarded quality.
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Guest Curator - What Artists Like 2
Notable Achievements 2023
Read Errol's guest curation for What Artists Like #2
Artist Statement
l mainly paint in oil. I often use situations in my environment, home, and community as my subject matter. I do not feel I need to go searching for inspiration or beauty, but I seeks it in his day-to-day surroundings, my own everyday experiences, my memories of Africa and stories I have heard or photos I have seen relating go my interesting family history. I also include animals in some of my work. The relationship between humans and animals has a special place in my practice as I am aware of the importance of animals and the benefits of our relationships with them in this complex world, we live in. It is as if I capture beautiful moments between people or people and animals and transfer these moments from his mind to canvas. I use a bright colour palette in my work which gives vibrancy and life to my paintings which often tell a story. Despite now living in the U.K. I am still closely linked to Africa through my use of colour and sometimes my subject matter.