The exhibition Victimes de la Passion features both new and older work by Robert Devriendt (°1955). Devriendt paints small pictures through which he tells the viewer an intimate story.
Mystery and suspense
Robert Devriendt’s works may be considered to be cinematic montages; successions of small paintings. He does not only interpret succession or ‘sequence’ in a cinematic sense, however, it is also psychological. At regular intervals, the viewer is confronted with forceful actions, thoughts and images.
At a cursory glance, the connection between the various paintings is mysterious. It is only when the viewer compares the works and makes associations that the sequences become meaningful. In this sense, a series of paintings is never complete. It is reinterpreted from one moment to the next. The whole often exudes an atmosphere of mystery and suspense due to the sexual or violent overtones of the individual works.
Devriendt’s paintings depict fragments of people, animals, landscapes or spaces. Often, they also include details of famous artworks or portraits of famous people. These appear as characters in varying décors.
The subjects are depicted in great detail; a painting technique reminiscent of the Flemish Primitives. This results in a complex relationship between the past and the present, as Robert Devriendt’s work is permeated by the contemporary world.
Devriendt creates a mood and depicts ‘the outside world’ in an intriguing way. His works are based on a very precise description of a moment, whether it is a mountain landscape, a woman pointing a gun at somebody, the back of a man wearing a leather jacket, the corner of a table in subdued lighting or a woman looking straight at the viewer.
The painting as a provocation
The things he doesn’t depict – the moments between the images – suggest that something has just happened or is about to happen. Despite the hiatuses and the contrasting subjects, the series are clearly linked. Their meaning is open, so that the narrative can always be (re)constructed always anew.
Not only are the paintings linked to one another, the series also seem to be related. They move across one another, repeat themselves and reveal nuances and new twists. The artist tells a story that transcends the various series, while at the same time recognising that communication is extremely complex. A painting does not only show something, it guides the eyes, and thereby the mind.
Kruip in je pen
Schrijf een kortverhaal
M daagde zijn bezoekers uit om een kortverhaal te schrijven, geïnspireerd op de schilderijen van Robert Devriendt. Uit de inzendingen selecteerde de kunstenaar de zeven verhalen die hem het meest begeesterden. Zij kregen een gesigneerde afdruk van een van zijn kunstwerken cadeau (waarde € 125). De zeven geselecteerde verhalen werden live voorgedragen tijdens de finissage op 13.01.11, en kregen erbovenop een bronzen M-bassadeurskaart.
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