Sophie's Choice: Painter Kiki Art

Sophie’s Choice: Painter Kiki Art

Nov 26, 2012 |  by  |  Art
About the author
Hi, I'm Sophia, a fiery redhead in the wondrous world of Amsterdam. I find my joy in singing, good food, cocktails, cute hidden places in our city and talking to crazy, inspiring and creative people.

Sophie’s choice is a series of portraits of young artists I want you to meet and keep an eye on. Why? Because they are inspiring, talented and doing what they like to do most. They are people with a passion for their art, on their way to becoming the greatest artists of today and tomorrow. The new generation is here! Meet more of them here.

Next up is Kiki Weerts. When I first saw her work, it was on the back of a girl I know. She wore a leather jacket with a painting of her face in cartoon, accompanied by two guns, roses, and in yellow the words ‘Bang Bang!’ written on it. It looked cool, like a ’70s action flick poster.

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I found out that Kiki makes customized jackets, which you can personally order with her. She also makes ‘regular’ paintings on canvas and on walls. She painted the walls of café Schuim in Amsterdam in black light paint, has had several expositions and makes décor pieces for theatre. Kiki says she’s inspired by Batman films ever since she was a little girl. The black light scenes and colours in the films made a huge impression and inspired her to paint with fluorescent and black light paint.

The story of why Kiki started painting sounds like that of The Karate Kid. Eight years ago she met a Chinese man on the streets of Amsterdam, who stopped her to ask her if he could take her picture so he could draw her. Since then, they fortuitously kept bumping into each other. After speaking to each other a few times, they decided he would teach her how to draw. They met in cafés, he brought empty notepads, and Kiki started drawing under his inspiring eye.

Smoky bars, funfair rides and truck drivers.

Her paintings are raw and humoristic. They remind me of smoky bars, funfair rides and truck drivers. There’s half naked women and disco lights, tigers and guns, seventies funk meets comic like action figures. Besides drawing and painting, she plays in her own band, called Vrouwen zijn OK!. The all female band performs with songs about women and is one of the faces of the Keep a breast foundation.

Kiki is working hard to make her art known. Right now she does a lot of collaborations with other artists. One of her goals is to paint the walls of the best nightclubs in ten of the coolest cities of the world. Another wish is to see more people wearing her customized jackets, because it would be better for the overall street view. And you know, I agree with her.

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