'Lets Dance' acrylics on canvas by Leon Aarts (1982)

"Let's Dance (1982) shows Leon Aarts at age 21, already confident in color and composition, celebrating human joy through simplified forms. Over 43 years, his work has evolved from this celebratory beginning to the complex existential questioning of his mature practice—but the core commitment to authentic human experience remains constant. From dancing figures to earthquake survivors, from joy to trauma to transcendence, Aarts has spent four decades painting what it means to be human."

The beginning of a serious, committed artistic practice that has now spanned more than four decades.