Mark Boekelman

Marinus Boekelman has been painting for over 20 years. What began in South Korea as an exchange while teaching English turned into a lifelong passion. He went on to study and paint with local artists in his spare time. Primarily a self-taught artist, Marinus later studied at Paris College of Art in 2014 and graduated from OCAD University with a BFA 2017 in painting and drawing.

Born in Amsterdam in 1943, he immigrated to Victoria BC at 19, in 1963. Today Marinus lives in Toronto, Canada, and continues to paint all year round in his Toronto-based and Huntsville Studios.

Marinus first discovered his love for painting in South Korea in 1996. He had recently arrived for a teaching position at an English Art college of Honam University where he met his Korean teacher and mentor, Young Rhee who proposed an exchange of Art lessons for English Lessons. Once he started painting, he quickly realized that he couldn’t stop. Marinus has been painting ever since and captures the emotional essence of his subjects without really being aware of it.

While in South Korea ( 1996-2001 ), Marinus was invited to an artist crozier (drawing from live models) group facilitated by Mr. Rhee. The group was made up of prominent South Korean Artists who gathered regularly to sketch local models. This was the first time Marinus was introduced to figure drawing and he built a large body of drawings during this period. In 2001 when he was returning to Canada, Young Rhee, who went on to become the Dean of Honam University Art School organized his first solo exhibition and published a catalog of his work. At the time Marinus mostly painted landscapes along with some figurative work depicting bathhouses in South Korea. During the exhibit, he sold many landscapes.

Upon his return to Canada in 2001, he joined “Artist 25”, an artist group founded by Tom Phillips in Toronto, Ontario. He began to practice painting from live models regularly and kept up this practice for many years, refining his skills and expressionist signature style. Artist 25 featured a model 3 nights every week and Saturdays all year long where many local artists and models got their first start. Marinus painted with them regularly for years building a large body of figurative work that allowed him to grow and develop as an artist. His work and style has been compared to Alice Neel, an American painter known for her emotional and colorful portraits. Marinus developed this style of expressionist painting without being aware of her work. She was brought to his attention later on by many other fellow artists and students.

During his time at “Artist 25”, another artist encouraged Marinus to take a portrait class with Dave Campbell at OCADU, who was known for his highly regarded portraiture classes. He ended up taking 2 courses with Campbell who emphasized that he would not teach him the style and palette of American portrait painters because he already had his own style which Campbell described as being like a fingerprint that he didn’t want him to lose. Instead, Campbell helped Marinus focus on the finishing touches and techniques that lend an aura of professionalism to his work. 

Marinus went on to study at OCAD part-time until he graduated in 2017. Many of his portraits and figurative work as well as landscapes and other genres were painted while he was at OCAD. He did both painting and drawing. He spent a semester studying in Paris at The Paris School of Art that used to be Parsons in Paris, France and since his graduation, has mostly painted portraits and figure work as it represents a style all on its own that is rooted in German expressionism and those working in the tradition of painting.

Marinus lives in Toronto, Canada and continues to paint all year round in his Toronto-based and Winterized Huntsville Studio’s.