About Henk

Casinos prefer not to see him at the roulette table anymore, he always predicts the presidential elections of America correctly and he has conquered Coincidence. Since 1988, sequences, structures and coincidence have determined an iron working rhythm, almost manic.

Cornelissen has now made more than 700 drawings on sheets of 65 × 50 cm according to systems he devised himself in his sketchbooks. An average of 20 per year. Sometimes only one a month.

 

WHAT PREVED THIS?

1960
After Henk Cornelissen graduated cum laude from the St. Joost art academy in Breda, he immediately started working abroad as a graphic designer. He worked for major international design studios in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, such as Unimark International and Saul Bass.
In 1971 he returned to the Netherlands and started his design studio Cornelissen & Kruijssen bureau for graphic and spatial design in Breda. In the 8 years of its existence, countless books, house styles, stamps, exhibitions and furnishings saw the light and the work received recognition in the Netherlands and abroad.

1971
In addition to his work as a designer, he taught for over 30 years at the Art Academy St. Joost in Breda and at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht. For generations of students and for his colleagues, he is of great influence here with his critical and professional view. He realized numerous and special projects and publications together with them.
His teaching period is interrupted for a short time to become head of the NOS design department.

In 2007, Henk received the Cultuurprijs from the city of Breda, in appreciation of his contributions to putting Breda on the map as a center of graphic design in the Netherlands. One will appear in 2022 ROOTS notebook about his design and teaching career.

After designing the first Christmas stamp for the PTT in 1987, which he "had a lot of fun with", Henk decided to only make free work. This is where this story begins.

Henk Cornelissen, autonomous designer of 'coincidence structures'
From then on, but actually much longer, Henk is interested in patterns and structures. As he himself says: “Not self-repeating structures, which are the same all over the field, but in structures in which, by means of the factor of chance, something happens that is unexpected or that causes the regular pattern to be broken. This can arise in many ways. Dice are often leading in this.”

How does a work by Henk come about?
Each work starts with an initial idea that is converted into a well-defined working method. For example, he makes an appointment or rule about the working method in advance and a choice of medium is made such as pen, marker, (colour) pencil, stamps, glue, paint and even cigarette butts or cloakroom numbers. In sketchbooks he usually writes down his first ideas and explores their potential.

Then, sometimes times later, the implementation of the idea starts on the fixed paper size 65×50 cm. The die and the deviation due to the repetitive action of the maker are factors that influence the result, sometimes unexpectedly. During the creative process, he never deviates from the preconceived idea. Craft precision and angelic patience characterize his working method. Hours behind his drawing table. Everything very meticulously and consistently. There is no bargaining. Henk accepts the extreme consequences of his own rules, even if that means that a project will take more than 11 years before it is completed, such as with the TOEVAL project.

Henk often subjects the completed work to a very meticulous analysis. What else does the structure and process show than meets the eye? Endless counts are noted and connections are mapped and interpreted. They become part of the story. The results of these analyzes can also lead to new works, why not.