Erik Van der Grijn b.1941

Rotting Sea Dogs belongs to a dynamic series of work the artist executed in the 1980s on the theme of pollution and included other similarly energetic canvases with titles such as North Sea Lament and Rotting Geese at Tjernobl.

Although born in Holland and educated at the Royal College of Art in the Hague, van der Grijn worked in Ireland for twenty years where he became particularly well-known in the 1970s for what he called 'Hard Edge Realism'.  Influenced by Malevitch and Mondrian, his work from that period combines austere geometry with a sharp palette comprised of cadimium yellow and black in particular.  The present work retains these vivid colour contrasts and exemplifies the freer and more expressive style he developed during the 1980s.  Van der Grijn has had numerous solo shows including those at the Hendriks Gallery, Dublin; Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York and the Galleria de Arte, Buenos Aires and his work is held in public collections such as The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin and the Collection of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.