Sharks Eat Meat: Derek Hansson

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

REVIEW - Derek Hansson

Derek Hansson

Derek Hansson is a painter and writer from Texas. Derek’s work has a raw strength and boldness few can match. He has a healthy obsession with Van Gogh’s techniques but offers a more colorful palette than just blue and gold. Derek’s thick textured marks and wild colors recall the fauvists. The complexity of many of his palettes is what makes the work so alluring. Much as Matisse’s ‘Green Stripe’ uses non-local colors, Derek’s figures and portraits are full of powerful reds, greens, violets, and golds. They give an intensity to the subjects.

His allegorical scenes are just as delightful as his portraits. They depict anarchy and angst with a playful charm. ‘Demons’ shows us a reclined self-portrait surrounded by a rare collection of hellish monsters. Birdmen, headless creatures, and skeletons haunt the hero in this work. ‘Roadkill Jam Session’ uses slightly more neutral and naturalistic colors while maintaining a folk-art style. As an artist and a musician, I personally enjoy visual art about music. This work has a shamanistic quality because of the presumably dead animals and skeletons present. It makes the viewer imagine what music they might play. Derek paints both portraits and social scenes with great skill and sensitivity. With ‘Monsieur Bumpos’ Derek shows off his painting prowess. In a fantastic way the beard looks like sprinkles, the sky afire, and the skin iridescent, and yet behind it an earnest man with a deep expression is present. Works such as ‘Death’ explore some of society’s most horrific moments.

Follow Derek Hansson’s blog and Instagram, and look for more of his work here @sharks_eat_meat .

Review by John Coulter