World Paintings

Teun Hocks (b. 1947)

For over a quarter of a century, the Dutch photographer and painter Teun Hocks has been performing as the “everyman” in his photographs, inventing scenes that are confrontations with failure, puzzlement and wonder. His single-figure studies are pictures of a middle-aged man caught in variously absurd circumstances.

Hocks’ photographs are cinematic in their process and mood. First, he constructs scenes in his studio and takes a black and white photograph. He then hand colors the photographs with transparent oil paint, taking precise care in the coloring in order to create specific emotions and atmosphere. The accumulation of these elements makes the environments seem like surreal portals.