The Studio (5), 2021

Marcel van Eeden is a Dutch draftsman and painter whose photo-realistic style is heavily influenced by film noir. His works are primarily monochromatic depictions of urban landscapes, nocturnal scenes, depictions of crimes and close ups of nefarious characters straight out of pulp fiction. Many of Marcel van Eeden's works are based on the visual style of the years preceding his birth year of 1965. He employs the templates of newspaper clippings, illustrations and magazines from the eras to express a bleak view of the world. Marcel van Eeden cites Edgar Degas as an influence in terms of his composition and pictorial style. The botanist Robert Walser is also a strong influence with Eeden using text from Walser's books over a series of drawings. Between the years 2001-2007 Eeden set himself the task of producing a drawing in ink and pencil on paper every day, which he simultaneously chronicled on his blog. He established a set of rules for the series, including basing each work on a found image. What resulted is a collection that in the graphic novel style which is a commentary on the way history is recorded and the fallibility of memory. (Artist website)