Curaçao Dutch Antilles/ Costa Rica
Johannes Boekhoudt (Dutch artist. born October 20,1966) in Willemstad, Curaçao Dutch Antilles. His Mother was a Secretary of the Bonaire Government in the Dutch Caribbean. His Father was a businessman. He lived his early years on Bonaire Island. In (1973) Boekhoudt immigrated with his parents to Costa Rica, Central America where he easily blended into the Latin American culture. Later in the 90’s, he become a commercial pilot in Costa Rica and the United States. During his years as a pilot, he briefly worked as an air ambulance pilot and was shocked at the fragility of life and decided that his career as a pilot had run its course. In year (1999), he married Erika and moved to Houston, Texas in the United States. Boekhoudt and his wife have two sons, Nickolas and Christopher. Not satisfied with his previous career, on September 11, (2001) the catastrophic event of 911 inspired him to work towards his dream, to be an expressionist artist and raise his voice through his paintings.
Now he is best known as the artist of the crosses, a distinctive style made of brushstrokes by which his work can be analyzed. He works in all formats, especially in large oil on linen and canvas. He also creates drawings, mix media works and collages which have become very collectable. After exploring impressionism, pointillism and the cubism style, Boekhoudt finds himself in an abstract world. As an inventive creator, he also makes construction element sculptures out of different materials such as wood and old clock pieces. Boekhoudt is a self-taught international artist. He combines figurative and abstraction elements in his works. Boekhoudt is most heavily influenced by old master painters like Jean Michel Basquiat, Willem de Kooning, Joan Miró and Pablo R. Picasso. The divergence of Boekhoudt’s own style from the masters before him was not easy. He has dedicated many years of perseverance and dedication to the creation of his signature works. He developed a unique style despite the turbulent artistic world. Since the beginning, the core of his works has been his strong ideas on human rights, social justice, children’s rights, and women’s rights. He openly addresses atrocities such as child abuse, domestic violence, organ trafficking, as well as social injustice issues of political instability occurring around the world.