Gregory Van Maanen Site, Paterson, NJ
The Site
After serving in the Vietnam War, Gregory Van Maanen returned to Paterson, New Jersey, and immersed himself in making art. Seeking to heal the trauma associated with near-fatal war wounds, he worked prodigiously, ultimately creating an oeuvre of twelve thousand works of art. His body of work includes several thousand paintings, drawings, sculptures, cast heads, amuletic pieces of wood and bone. His oeuvre also includes furniture and found objects embellished with skulls, all-seeing eyes, open palms, glowing hearts, and a range of personalized symbols of protection and “good magic.”
He eventually filled every empty space in his loft and decided he was ready to move on. In 2007, working with Van Maanen, Kohler Foundation, Inc. acquired all of the artwork in the apartment. The collection remains intact and densely installed at the Art Preserve—a memorial to Van Maanen’s belief in the healing power of art.
Gregory Van Maanen
b. 1947
Gregory Van Maanen was born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1947. He served in the Vietnam War between 1968 and 1970 and received the Purple Heart. Plagued by the memories of several near-death experiences and the extreme violence of war, Van Maanen found that art making offered an escape from the disturbing visions that dwelled deep in his mind. He describes his work as “self-preservation sometimes shared with others.”
Although the effects of his post-traumatic stress disorder have lessened over the years, he remains a firm believer in the healing power of art for veterans and nonveterans alike. Van Maanen resides in New York State, where he continues to create art.
In 2007 the Kohler Foundation, Inc., acquired a large collection of Van Maanen’s work—the entirety of his Paterson apartment. The foundation collaborated with the artist to document his home environment with the aim of keeping the body of work intact. Later that year, the collection was gifted to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.
