Marcel Hoedemaker (1960), locally also known as HOEDIE.
More then 20 years ago he arrived, with his family, in the elegant town of Vence, far from the hustle and bustle of the coast-area. After he had sold his real estate agency in Amsterdam, he later focused on the artist’s life, a change in lifestyle and a dream which came trough.
He liked to have his own studio / gallery space with colors, cloth and brush and create something, he says, while on the terrace at the Place du Grand Jardin the faux filet is served but ‘The Netherlands is also fantastic of course – Queen’s Day, The region Frise, all that water, beautiful clouds, “says Hoedemaker. ‘ So we wanted to give a twist to our lives and to be more present/nearby our young children. I wanted to go back a few steps. Here you have another language, Nice and it’s surroundings with a lot of culture, the airport around the corner, the sea and the mountain landscape and ski-area. Vence is situated just in between. In the Netherlands he had already started painting as an amateur. In Vence, where the gallery density is high, he found that magical place. He throws himself, as he says it himself, into the deep, insecure, in the experiment. He paints with acrylic and oil paint in various styles, recently he ventured to his first spatial object, after an intensive welding course, namely a locomotive annex BBQ. Other artists may also exhibit in his studio if the walls are empty due to an exhibition elsewhere.
Sowing, sowing, sowing and sharing is one of his ways. Under this motto, HOEDIE (‘a name introduced by friends’) uses the brush as a creator of Art. He paints on the harbor days of Antibes, made a menu for a local restaurant, hung in the office of ABN Amro in Valbonne, but also in the luxurious Hotel & Spa Chateau Saint-Martin, where everything is marble and the lavender smells next to the trimmed cypresses. But he also participated in an exhibition in 11 studios of fellow artists in Vallauris around the image “L’homme au mouton” by Picasso or in Rouquefort-les-Pins together with the local music school and a fellow sculptor. Or the international exhibition on the Croissette in Cannes at the famous Hotel Miramar where he received a first prize for a triptych depicting the Côte d’Azur, painted on old kitchen doors.
Meanwhile, many international contacts have been made so that the work of HOEDIE could and can also be seen in Munich, Amsterdam, Beijing, Istanbul, Bucarest. Soon he will travel to Estonia, where his work will be shown at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Talinn and at the same time he is invited by an Italian Gallery to exhibit in Berlin. He can also be found regularly at art fairs such as the National Art Days and the ADAF, where around six thousand people visit in two days. In 2018, he was to be admired live within the framework of Leeuwarden as cultural capital of Europe. In a large meadow there were five hundred large paintings by as many painters, under the name “The Colorfield” initiated by fellow artist Dirk Hakze. From May 15 to October 1, every day 10 artists went in to take a prepaired panel and give color tot he meadow. A great success with more than 45,000 visitors. HOEDIE painted a panorama of the Frise landscape on five canvases at the same time, in one day, in between the famous Dutch rain showers. A challenge he loves, but he had prepared himself weeks before in his studio in Vence, how to handle that job, he succeeded. At this moment he participates at The Colorfield 2 edition in Elst near Arnhem in the beautiful Linzegenpark with more then a 80.000 visitors.
Integration is a necessity to be accepted, invited and to be awarded. Many of his new friends are French, he says. “You have to take make an effort to speak the language, not be afraid to cook dinner for them. Then you meet enough nice open French people. They are cosmopolitan here, come from Paris, Bordeaux and Lyon, fly easily up and down. I was even asked for the Lions Club and became a member for a couple of years. At this moment he is a member of the jury of the “ Artistes association of Artocercle des artistes de Vence”.
Before he was a member of the jury invited by board of Chateau Saint Martin in collaboration with the Highschool Matisse and their finshing Art classse.. Then you can say you are accepted by the local people.
All in all, as HOEDIE he celebrates the motto: without interaction, without sharing and without communication with other peolple, I, as an artist, can not grow and evolve in the world called ART. “ART is moving” always in motion, in development but do not forget the double meaning of the word moving.
Vence, September 2021 (article Intermezzo by Ariejan Korteweg 2018)