This focus on drawing was a result of a period of experimenting with different materials and techniques after his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rotterdam. Working with pencil and colourpencil on small sized paper matched his need for a direct and uncontrolled means of expression. Gradually Ecriture Automatique gave way to more controlled and individual works. Loneliness, distress, fear, violence and the Battle of the Sexes are themes that Van der Eerden explores in his work. This led to series such as Sad Alchemy, on the impossibility of contact between the sexes; Insanity Factory about fear, violence and madness and; Enclosures, an abstract series about the restrained mind.
Van der Eerden worked for several months in Brussels, Florence, Istanbul and Paris. He showed a.o. in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Rotterdam. In France he had a small retrospective, with works from 1996-2001, at the Domaine de Kergéhennec in Brittany. In Paris he regularly shows his work at Galerie Bernard Jordan. From September until November 2002 some 300 drawings and a large wallpainting were shown at ForwArt: a choice in Brussels, a show which was curated by Chris Dercon, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Robert Fleck and Lynn Cooke.
Apart from drawings Van der Eerden makes editions of his work and the work of others. He also curated several shows on Outsider Art in combination with Contemporary and (classical) African art. In January 2003 he was a guest professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.
Bron: paulvandereerden.nl