Posts tagged as 'General'
Video Commentary on “Portraits of a Painting”
Categories: General
Portraits of a Painting: Overview
The exhibition “Portraits of a Painting” shows the following paintings:
The photo books for each painting can be procured separately (unsigned) through blurb.com:
Categories: General
Art is research
Searching and researching is a daily occupation for many people. Since the human mind evolved into a minimal form of intellect, people have been searching for the meaning of things, why events happen or how. Sciences are evolving and continue to answer more and more questions, and at the same time arise more questions. As satisfying as answers to questions may be as the end point of a search, one should never have to find the final truth; the all encompassing truth that does not generate more questions. That final truth should be the unreachable goal of everyone in live. It is good to learn new things every now and then, gain new insights, getting to know yourself better. But you should never arrive at that deadly end point, that outer limit of the world, behind which only a vast emptiness lies.
Art is research and every art work is an experiment that should lead to an answer to a sometimes undefined question. The answer should obviously be truthful and should not be the result of a directive work method. On the contrary: the work method should leave some space for random events, coincidences that characteristically determine the final outcome; that are a necessary planned part of the experiment, but that don’t play a planned part with a predetermined effect. Coincidence should be allowed to add value to the experiment. I avoid to use the word “interfere” on purpose, since it implies altering a planned course. Coincidence indeed alters the course of events, but since the origin, sequence and outcome of the events are not planned, it does not “interfere”.
Afraid of ever encountering a horror vacui and obsessed with surfaces, I tend to start working on a painting by contemplating how I can cover that blank canvas in paint in such a way that it becomes a meticulous experiment that researches the influence of coincidence on my conscious actions and how a painterly action interacts with chaos and de- and recreates it. It results in a cross over between directed painterly expression and Brownian motion.
The painting is created for the experiment’s sake, not for the sake of esthetic admiration. The esthetics of research merely add to the wider acceptance of the experiment and as such the painting can fulfil two purposes, but the purpose of a research experiment should always prevail. As the artwork is a research experiment the modus operandi is an important co-creator of the final outcome and not only a means to an end. It should be possible afterwards to read the experiment and deduct from that reading how it was performed. Meta-researching the painting is thus the foremost post-creative action that the interactor is expected to perform.
In the exhibition Portraits of a Painting each experiment is documented by a series of photographs that not only illustrate the observation of coincidental interaction, but also allow to detect the working method of the painter. The eye should never let go.
Researching coincidence through a painterly action is a very pragmatic deed. Marthe Wéry (1930-2005), a Belgian artist put it like this: “I think that I am a pragmatic. I can only understand things after I have done them myself. That is not theoretic at all. […] I am not abstract, but very specific.” I can only share her opinion.
Categories: General
Exhibition Alert: Portraits of a painting
From April 10th until April 26th I will be showing seven new paintings in theo Gallery in Antwerp. Each 90×90 cm painting is accompanied by a little booklet, displaying photographic details of the way that paint, colour and texture generate miniature paintings, each contributing to a Gesamtkunstwerk.
The paintings are the result of the mediated coincidence between the painter, the pressure applied to the palette knife, gravity and chance. The photo’s serve as a necessary supplement to the painting, forcing the spectator to come closer and interact with the painting.
You are kindly invited to attend the opening night (please rsvp via info@steve-koll.be).
Location and opening hours
theo Gallery
Sint-Michielskaai 8-9
2000 Antwerp
Belgium
Opening night: Friday, April 10th, 19h00
Exhibition: Saturday, April 11th until Sunday April 26th
Opening hours:
Fridays: 14h00 - 17h00
Saturdays: 10h00 - 18h00
Sundays: 11h00 - 17h00
Categories: General
New books
Categories: General
New painting: Untitled 18102008
Categories: General
Natural textures
Those of you that are a bit more familiar with my portfolio know that I have a love/hate relationship with texture. Many of my paintings can be considered as a form of research into the interaction between strokes of oil paint, colour and texture.
These photo’s, which I took last Sunday with my new macro lens (Tamron 90mm f2.8 1:1 on a NikonD300), nicely illustrate that principle.
Categories: General
New painting: Untitled 2209
New exhibition: Fass’ mich an
Starting from tomorrow August 20th until mid October I will be showing 10 paintings and 1 mixed media sculpture at restaurant “De Golfbreker”, Strandlaan 302, 8670 Koksijde.
For the first time, the series about touch is displayed in its entirety. The 5 white works, characterised by the presence of a wide line and a cirlce, are confronted with the red, black and white containing larger works that deal with the same topic: they question the origin, the directional movement and the immediate result of a touch.
A catalogue can be purchased online and delivered right to your doorstep:
The restaurant closes on Tuesdays.
Categories: General
Masterpieces of the Barbier-Mueller collection
Amazon Link: African Masks: From the Barbier-Mueller Collection (Art Flexi Series)
The Musée Jacquemart André is currently showing the masterpieces of the Barbier-Mueller collection of African and Oceanic art. That collection is considered to be the most beautiful showcase of primitive art in the whole world.
The exhibition continues until August 24th. (more…)
