Dutch Artist in America
By JOANNE MILANI (Tribune Art Critic)
TAMPA — It hasn't been easy for two visiting Dutch artists to size up all the sights, sounds and smells of the United States.
The two have been at the University of South Florida as part of an art exchange program. They recently completed a 2½-month tour that included New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington.
"What I remember most is being in Houston and meeting a very intelligent woman," said 27-year old Berend Strik"She took me around in her big car, and we drove to a place called 'Polar Ice.' We got something to eat that looked like snow and tasted like lemon." Strik has the intense look expected of an artist who often reflects on the world. The work table in his USF studio is loaded with books and art reproductions.
When he talks he comes very close to make sure a listener understand his point. Hans van Houwelingen, on the other hand, is big full of laughter and has the easy manner of an outdoorsman. His blue eyes are the same color as those of Vincent van Gogh.
When the years overtake this 30-year-oldartist, his face will take on the same seamed, sunburned texture seen in van Gogh's self-portraits.
"LA was very strange," van Houwelin-gen said. "There were no people on the street, only cars. I got scared. It's strange being in a city where the citizens are cars." Along with fellow artists Ina van den Heuvel and Maurice van Tellingen - who since have returned to Holland - Strik and van Houwelingen are part of an art and artists exchange program between the USF Art Museum and the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam's premiere graduate art school.
Supported in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the state of Florida and the Florida Fine Arts Council.
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