Jan Vanmeiren

Jan was born in Bornern, Belgium in 1949 and studied art full-time at the Academy St Niklaas, the Acadamy of Mechelen and the National Hoger Institute in Antwerp. After being invited to teach lithography in 1973 in South Africa, he decided to stay on indefinitely.
Jan was profoundly influenced by the extensive range of colours he found in the local land- and cityscapes, compared to the relative blandness of the European spectrum, Belgium in particular.
His work is an expression not of the outer reality, but of the subconcious, and it is this intrinctive approach that gives his paintings their dreamlike, spiritual quality. He asks the viewer to react on the same subconcious and spontaneous level, both to the form and content of his work. With his paintings he aims to bring the viewer into the spirit of Africa, thereby encouraging a deeper understanding of the African identity.
Jan Vermeiren's work can be found in the acclaimed South African Sanlam and SASOL collections, as well as the South Afarican museums in Pretoria, Durban and BLoemfontein.
Abroad his work can be found on display in Belgium an Yugoslavian museums.

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