MARTIJN DISSEN
I was born in Rotterdam in 1963 and raised in Amsterdam and its surroundings. I developed an early talent for drawing and painting.
As a teenager, I discovered stencil cutting and spray painting. Inspired by early New York street artists such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, I wanted to become an artist myself. At the time, being an artist seemed like a life of poverty, so I studied history, drawing and art to become a teacher. While studying, I worked for a while as an industrial painter in the harbour, spraying trailers and containers. I also learned screen printing and started a T-shirt business with friends in the Amsterdam squat De Wielingen, and later at the Nieuwmarkt.
Teaching was not really satisfying, so I went to a painters’ academy. There I learned decorative techniques including wood and marble imitation, airbrushing, car spraying and shop-window lettering. I then started my own company, Bont en Blauw Decorators. As a freelancer I worked for clients including the Torture Museum in Amsterdam, Circus Holiday, Amnesty International and the Amsterdam set-building company SBI. That was when I really began to make a living as a painter.
In 1990, at the age of 27, I began working as a set painter for Dutch film and television productions. For around fifteen years I regularly worked on major Dutch films such as Abeltje and The Heineken Kidnapping, as well as television programmes and commercials. Alongside the set work, there were always murals and smaller painting projects.
For about five years, until 2008, I also worked on sets in the studio of Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf, contributing to art projects, magazine commissions and commercial productions. During those busy years I became a father, with three children to support – three new creations to work on.
Around 2005, looking for a more regular income, my painting company began working on the renovation of historic buildings in the Netherlands. I became increasingly specialised as a house painter, while continuing with murals, exhibitions and personal art projects, including my Amsterdam card game.
In 2019 I bought my own studio in Amsterdam’s Westerpark, which has kept me active and growing as a creative person ever since. From 2021 I have been spending more time in Spain, working on illustrations for my own books and on whatever new creative projects come along.
To be continued…