24 september 2024, Indra Devriendt
Passages to another dimension
Denie Put’s paintings immediately capture the viewer’s attention through their vibrant colours and range of textures. He paints monumental shapes that resemble a façade or a gate. “I love the idea of triumphal arches in a city,” says Put. “It’s interesting how their negative space carves out parts of a city.” He explores positive and negative space in his work and his painted shapes offer a glimpse into a uniformly painted colour field. This austere background can consistently be found in his recent work and is very effective.
Put paints passages and marks boundaries between the inside and outside. Symbolically, the ‘positive’ may refer to visible aspects, while the ‘negative’ points to hidden aspects of reality. Through his work, Put encourages us to look beyond physical appearances and explore the underlying complexity. The large formats reinforce this. Our senses filter and simplify information. Matter is merely a reduction of the rich reality we are experiencing. What we see is a façade, but behind it lies much more than we can perceive and understand. He describes his work as ‘labyrinths of layers’ that align with the depth conveyed by his paintings. The interaction between different layers reflects the dynamic relationship between matter, consciousness and our complex perception.
Denie Put, Rubicon, Base-Alpha Gallery
Put’s paintings fluctuate between the figurative, abstract and surreal. We seek figurative elements for a sense of grasp. Is he painting clustered objects, stacked stones, organically intertwined forms or struggling beings? It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what we are looking at. In the past, Put occasionally added geometric shapes to his paintings but nowadays, uses them more intensely and purposefully, heightening the sense of disorientation in his work. Geometric figures represent order and symmetry. Put places them in unexpected locations, sometimes distorting them. In doing so, he emphasises the underlying chaos and complexity, challenging us to decipher what they mean and why they are there.
Put’s paintings are both wondrous and mysterious. They provide access to hidden layers of reality, which is enhanced by three-dimensional elements and the use of frames. His abstract forms are often difficult to define and create optical illusions. They appear to be floating and/or extending beyond the frame. This conveys a sense of spatiality or sets a static form in motion. Put presents paintings within frames and in some pieces, turns the frames around. This makes the work protrude from the wall, becoming more of an object. Again, he breaks the boundaries of a painting and adds a dimension. We once again sense how he explores mental constructions and invites us to look further.
We associate the sculptural nature of his paintings with a fixed form, yet we also experience his compositions as fleeting. It feels as if they are a snapshot, ready to fall apart or be rearranged at any moment. This reflects our own perception, which is only a temporary representation of a changing reality. It reminds us of the illusion of stability in forms and how we perceive them. His work radiates both an archaeological and futuristic aura, highlighting the relativity of the concept of time.
Denie Put, Rubicon, Base-Alpha Gallery
Put introduces variety to shapes, compositions, techniques, textures and colours. His paintings feed off one another. “I chose ‘Rubicon’ as the title for this exhibition,” he explains. “It refers to Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon River, marking a point of no return. I love that irreversibility. I often take risks in my paintings. When in doubt, I make radical decisions. I paint over something or choose a different colour.” He experiments with different paint applications and techniques, ranging from transparent flowing paint to opaque layers and sanding down them down to reveal the underlying layers. These diverse approaches result in a wide array of textures. As the viewer, we also get to see how the work is made. “The first layers of paint happen very intuitively,” says Put. “I experiment and let the paint guide me. ‘Failures’ lead to new things. I apply the final layers in a controlled manner. That’s when I choose what to develop further or add. I’m also becoming more conscious in my search for the right colour tones. I’m working on how to guide viewers. What do they look at first and how do they explore the painting further?”
His use of colour amplifies a sense of alienation, ranging from lively, bright and cheerful to soft and murky. Put often uses complementary colours, contributing to a dynamic and energetic ambience. Several works are bathed in a magical sunlight, as if the sun is rising or setting. Put also uses light and shadow to create volume. The colour contrasts and dramatic lighting enhance the visual tension. He pays homage to painting and approaches the medium in a unique way. In his recent work, Put opts for more order and control in the finishing phase. He makes more radical choices, elevating his work to a higher level. The tension he seeks in various aspects of his work becomes even more pronounced. We see familiar elements, but his paintings are elusive in many ways. Put disrupts expectations with his work. It feels unsettling and disorienting. We don’t quite know what to make of it, and that’s why it lingers. In our observations and interpretations of reality, we are always searching for meaning and coherence. Due to the limitations inherent in our perception, we cannot fully grasp things, yet we are connected to an underlying reality that forms the basis of our experiences. Are we willing to look beyond the surface? Are we ready to reconsider our perception of it?
Denie Put, Rubicon, Base-Alpha Gallery
