Artist

For over 25 years Jeroen Hollander takes us on a journey through his imaginary cities. The city plans,  he designs, like the advertising slogan of the Belgian railway, "Taking the train is always a bit of a  journey". In Jeroen's world, a city is not a set of streets and blocks, but rather a complex organic  structure of dozens, sometimes hundreds of tram, bus, train and metro lines. His work shows a deep  fascination with public transport and the place where this kind of transport Is at its best, namely the  city. 

What is striking in the drawings is the system and notation followed which raise these drawings above the level of a few colored lines. The train, tram, metro and bus lines are the main structure,  but there is a hierarchy according to the kind of transport. A railway line is often a black line that  stands out because there are only a limited number of it. Metro lines are also more different than  tram and bus lines. There are also almost always rivers, lakes and parts of the sea in a drawing,  because, in the eyes of the artist, this is a major obstacle to organizing traffic and public transport. In  some drawings, you will also find elements that can be found on “real” town maps, such as ferries,  roads and parks. 

Jeroen Hollander always works with simple means. The drawings are made with markers and pencil  on paper. They are usually in A4 format and at the beginning of his career it was even mainly on the  back of used computer paper. Sometimes he also experiments with larger formats. The drawing  materials used are usually of a better quality, making them resistant to discoloration due to light.