Tours 
With colourful characters, playful forms and a healthy dose of absurdity, Mans Weghorst is building a visual language that shows more and more of himself. The Blind Walls Talent Call brought him back to the playfulness of being a child and creating from intuition.
Visual creator Mans Weghorst moves between different disciplines, with an focus on illustration and animation. His work is often a mix of surrealism, absurdity and childlike playfulness. During his first solo exhibition I just wanted to draw dinosaurs, he went back to the core: making something purely because it is fun. “I just wanted to draw dinosaurs, nothing more than that,” he says. What started as a fun project grew into an acknowledgement: if he keeps being himself, that’s enough.
Whereas previous commissions had a clear direction, for the Blind Walls Gallery Gallery exhibition Mans asked himself what he really wanted to make for himself. Staying close to his own self was a big, but also important challenge. For him, the sketchbooks and animations from the exhibition are especially valuable. “Sketches are vulnerable because there are mistakes in them,” he explains. “I’ve always had the idea that something has to be perfect, but it doesn’t have to be at all.” The exhibition shows how Mans frees himself from perfectionism and self-criticism and makes room for spontaneity and enthusiasm. For him, that process is the most important, learning to trust his intuition and be less afraid of others’ opinions.
PHOTED by Edwin Wiekens
Playfulness
The exhibition is part of the Blind Walls Talent Call, where Mans is one of five participants from the 2024 batch. Thanks to this programme, he gained a sharp sense of what his way of working is. “There is something cheerful and childlike in my work. I like to work with characters and play with scale,” he says. By seeing what keeps recurring, he better understands who he is as a maker and can also present that more easily to clients.
At festival Ploegendienst, Mans created a mural inspired by the Galderse Meren and his association with floating underwater. His image of an underwater stage full of sonar sounds and fluid shapes stood out. The jury praised him and saw the best match for the follow-up commission at Mezz. Unlike painting at Ploegendienst, there he stood in a public place right in the centre of Breda. That caused a lot of public attention and fun conversations. “That way I also give a piece of myself as a human being,” says Mans. He also designed animations and a T-shirt for Mezz, which are now woven into the pop venue’s identity.
PHOTED by Edwin Wiekens
Direction
Besides the artistic process, Mans learned a lot about communication and the business side of the profession during the Blind Walls Talent Call; skills that are just as important. The contact with other creators, eating together, attending workshops and sharing experiences created a close bond. “Blind Walls really feels like a warm nest,” he says. His direction for the future is clear: having fun in what he makes and remaining himself in it.
Written by: Anne van Bree
The Blind Walls Talent Call is made possible by Keep an Eye Foundation, Gemeente Breda, Provincie Noord-Brabant, Verfplaza and Kairos Events.
The Mans x MEZZ x Vans t-shirt is available (in limited supply) through: https://www.mezz.nl/mans-weghorst/