Technique and Artistic Style
George Korsmit operates through a strict system of chance and choice. He does not rely on traditional composition or the artist's intuition to dictate the placement of color. Instead, he employs an aleatoric system to assemble his works. He determines the dimensions of the color panels by throwing dice. The colors themselves are selected through a blind dip into a box containing approximately 1,600 different color chips. This method removes the artist's direct control over the visual outcome, creating what he describes as a ritualised coincidence.
The resulting paintings are inimitable stacks of form and color. These accumulations give the eye and the brain no time to rest. Because the process relies on these predetermined steps and procedures, the works remain unpredictable and capricious. They possess an idiosyncratic logic that exists independently of the viewer's expectations. The colors are assembled and placed to maintain a sense of motion, ensuring they stay in a state of immaterial occurrence. The final objects often appear as if they have escaped their two-dimensional origins, manifesting in ways that are both clunky and complex.
Key Works and Collections
The trajectory of his output moves from early experimental formats to complex collaborative efforts. In 1983, he produced Hostile sketches, a work taking the form of a book. This piece is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum Twenthe in Enschede. His later years show a shift toward collaborative production, most notably in 2016 when he created Everything Is One alongside Saskia Janssen.
His catalog includes a variety of specific, dated compositions that define his presence in contemporary collections. These works often emerge from his unique systems of chance and choice. Notable entries include:
- Sketch for 'somebody's gotta do it (we're not in here), 2004
- Present Forever, 2007
- Looking Around for Side Streets, 2009
- Point de Vue, 2011
- Sending Out The Gods, 2014
The physical presence of his work extends beyond the canvas. In certain exhibitions, he has moved his aleatoric systems into three-dimensional space, creating objects that appear to yearn after their two-dimensional origins. These pieces exist as unpredictable, capricious accumulations of form and color.
Where to See the Works Today
His presence in institutional collections spans several major Dutch centers. The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam SMCS holds his work in Amsterdam, while the Centraal Museum in Utrecht maintains a collection of his pieces. In the south, the Stadsgalerij Heerlen in Heerlen and de Pont in Tilburg also house his output. His reach extends to the Museum Waterland in Purmerend and the former Stedelijk Museum ‘s-Hertogenbosch|AKV St. Joost.
The scale of his influence moves from the canvas to the architecture of the museum itself. At Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar, he designed a floor painting for the education atelier. Beyond the borders of the Netherlands, his work is held in the Museum im Kulturspeicher in Würzburg, Germany.
