Ellen De Meutter
16 Oct - 29 Nov 2008
ELLEN DE MEUTTER
"Sad Songs & Simple Stories"
16/10 - 29/11/2008
Shortly before his death, the Italian writer Italo Calvino was working on a series of lectures covering crucial criteria of literature. The important though unfinished lectures were posthumously published under the title Six Memos for the Next Millennium. The first lecture is dedicated to the literary quality of “lightness”. In this paper, Calvino depicts the mythological figure of Perseus as an allegory on how the poet should relate to the - often terrifying - reality. Only Perseus manages to escape the petrifying eyes of Medusa by never looking directly at her, but rather at her reflection in his shield. After he has beheaded Medusa, he puts her head in a bag to keep it with him and use it as a petrifying weapon when threatened. “Perseus’ strength always lies in a refusal of a direct look, but not in a refusal of the reality in which he is fated to live; he carries the reality with him and accepts it as his particular burden”, says Calvino. According to the writer the weight of life, or of the reality that surrounds us, is given depth when we hold up a mirror of lightness for her – not by looking her directly in the eyes.
Ellen De Meutter has been familiar with the works of the Italian writer since she was in the academy. Calvino became one of her most cherished authors – as she confirmed just recently in her artist’s contribution to the art magazine <h>art. It should not then be a coincidence that mirrors and reflections are a recurring motif in paintings by De Meutter. She creates work with an autobiographic orientation without indulgence in navel-gazing. All her works are loosely based on memories of her childhood. The inscriptions in her recent paintings speak volumes regarding that theme: ‘Growing up’, ‘Learning from life’, ‘Get over yourself’. De Meutter does not use any existing material such as contemporary photographs, she constructs mental images from her imagination. Though her works can be regarded as growing pains converted into paint, the tone of her work is remarkably light-footed. The images she constructs are disordering, drawn in a sketchy, almost cartoon-like handwriting. With the aid of her own pictograms or emblems De Meutter is charting her memories, developing a personally charged iconography while suggesting stories. Her paintings do not show complete stories, they should be considered more of a rebus or story-board. Even though for most of her works the setting seems like paradise at first sight, bale is never far away. Melancholy and humour take turns in the foreground. A naked figure, seen from the back – one of many alter egos of the artist in the exhibition – is holding a wounded fox. A scene reminiscent of Caspar David Friedrich depicts figures immersed in water to their waist and staring at the horizon, as if expecting salvation. From a river gesticulating hands emerge: giving, taking and invoking. By the feet of trees figures are reading, as if they are frozen. Amidst a desolate landscape we find a lonely swimmer defying the current of a river. Every one of them is a rhythmic representation with a staccato of visual elements and syncoping colours.
One of the remarkable things in the new works of Ellen De Meutter is the painterly qualities. The canvases display a large variety in paint treatment and alternate between transparent and paste-like paint surfaces. In addition, the ambition at the basis of the paintings is striking. Not only did De Meutter create several paintings with large sizes that have no precedent in her work to date,, the representations also possess a large complexity. As does much of her recent “waterworks”, the title image of the exposition - Breaking the Waves - for example, reverts to the painting Kano’s (Canoes) concerning image construction, which was part of her first exhibition at Tim Van Laere in 2006. Simultaneously it displays part of her personal iconography which she has since developed and presented in her exposition Secrets & Lies at her American gallery Roberts & Tilton in 2007, amongst others. The result are self-willed and generous paintings which emanate a powerful vitality.
Roel Arkesteijn
"Sad Songs & Simple Stories"
16/10 - 29/11/2008
Shortly before his death, the Italian writer Italo Calvino was working on a series of lectures covering crucial criteria of literature. The important though unfinished lectures were posthumously published under the title Six Memos for the Next Millennium. The first lecture is dedicated to the literary quality of “lightness”. In this paper, Calvino depicts the mythological figure of Perseus as an allegory on how the poet should relate to the - often terrifying - reality. Only Perseus manages to escape the petrifying eyes of Medusa by never looking directly at her, but rather at her reflection in his shield. After he has beheaded Medusa, he puts her head in a bag to keep it with him and use it as a petrifying weapon when threatened. “Perseus’ strength always lies in a refusal of a direct look, but not in a refusal of the reality in which he is fated to live; he carries the reality with him and accepts it as his particular burden”, says Calvino. According to the writer the weight of life, or of the reality that surrounds us, is given depth when we hold up a mirror of lightness for her – not by looking her directly in the eyes.
Ellen De Meutter has been familiar with the works of the Italian writer since she was in the academy. Calvino became one of her most cherished authors – as she confirmed just recently in her artist’s contribution to the art magazine <h>art. It should not then be a coincidence that mirrors and reflections are a recurring motif in paintings by De Meutter. She creates work with an autobiographic orientation without indulgence in navel-gazing. All her works are loosely based on memories of her childhood. The inscriptions in her recent paintings speak volumes regarding that theme: ‘Growing up’, ‘Learning from life’, ‘Get over yourself’. De Meutter does not use any existing material such as contemporary photographs, she constructs mental images from her imagination. Though her works can be regarded as growing pains converted into paint, the tone of her work is remarkably light-footed. The images she constructs are disordering, drawn in a sketchy, almost cartoon-like handwriting. With the aid of her own pictograms or emblems De Meutter is charting her memories, developing a personally charged iconography while suggesting stories. Her paintings do not show complete stories, they should be considered more of a rebus or story-board. Even though for most of her works the setting seems like paradise at first sight, bale is never far away. Melancholy and humour take turns in the foreground. A naked figure, seen from the back – one of many alter egos of the artist in the exhibition – is holding a wounded fox. A scene reminiscent of Caspar David Friedrich depicts figures immersed in water to their waist and staring at the horizon, as if expecting salvation. From a river gesticulating hands emerge: giving, taking and invoking. By the feet of trees figures are reading, as if they are frozen. Amidst a desolate landscape we find a lonely swimmer defying the current of a river. Every one of them is a rhythmic representation with a staccato of visual elements and syncoping colours.
One of the remarkable things in the new works of Ellen De Meutter is the painterly qualities. The canvases display a large variety in paint treatment and alternate between transparent and paste-like paint surfaces. In addition, the ambition at the basis of the paintings is striking. Not only did De Meutter create several paintings with large sizes that have no precedent in her work to date,, the representations also possess a large complexity. As does much of her recent “waterworks”, the title image of the exposition - Breaking the Waves - for example, reverts to the painting Kano’s (Canoes) concerning image construction, which was part of her first exhibition at Tim Van Laere in 2006. Simultaneously it displays part of her personal iconography which she has since developed and presented in her exposition Secrets & Lies at her American gallery Roberts & Tilton in 2007, amongst others. The result are self-willed and generous paintings which emanate a powerful vitality.
Roel Arkesteijn