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Manuela Klerkx
Munch’s The Scream in 2021
To be honest, I sometimes lose heart. There are so many sad and painful happening on the world stage that writing a Collection suddenly seems futile. A thought that I immediately push aside, because I think art is of the utmost importance, especially in a period of social and political unrest. Artists often identify new developments and tendencies that they incorporate in their work, either consciously or unconsciously. From climate change and the pandemic to the Taliban rule in Afghanistan and the growing inequality between rich and poor, the list goes on and on. Can art still offer comfort, can we still refresh ourselves with its beauty or meaning? Just a few questions that come to mind and I will illustrate with the help of the following works of art that somehow correspond to the worrying situation of today and I experience as a contemporary Scream of Munch.
1 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 7 Oeuvres disponibles
1 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations
Pim Palsgraaf’s 'multiscape' sculptures are the result of his ambiguous relationship with the environment that is increasingly urbanized, which offers less and less space for the natural and primary needs of humans and animals. Titles such as 'Questioning reality', 'Traces of existence', 'Traces of emptiness' hint at the themes in his work such as construction and decay, reality and memory. After starting out as a painter, Palsgraaf (1979, lives and works in Rotterdam) developed more and more in the direction of wall objects and 3D installations, making use of all kinds of materials such as pieces of wood and shreds of cardboard and paper which he cut into shape and glued to the canvas. By stacking houses, railways and tunnels, he creates dystopian works of art that illustrate the tense relationship between his almost apocalyptic world view and the erosion of the city. A kind of Scream from Munch, which takes on the form of makeshift architecture and a no nonsense mentality.
(NL=US Art)
(NL=US Art)
Cléo Totti
0 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 15 Oeuvres disponibles
4 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations
The work of Cléo Totti (1989, lives and works in Brussels) fits in perfectly with the many issues surrounding gender identity and fluidity, the different social codes towards heterosexual and homosexuality, the MeToo movement, etc. In her work, Totto tries to crack existing codes and shows her interest in redefining norms and values that no longer correspond to our rapidly changing world. Her great passion is 'the variability of species'. She has an aversion to pigeonholing and defines her work as follows:
My work is hybrid and multidisciplinary. In my paintings, sculpture and installations, I am searching for definitive forms according to the themes (and problems) of the project. I work from the sensitivity to a material. For example, when I see a pipe pump in a shop that appeals to me, I see it as a shape or object that can be part of a future sculpture.
https://www.wawmagazine.be/nl/etiquettes/cleo-totti
Shapes from everyday life but also a natural landscape, everything can inspire her, but especially the physical appearance of people who belong to a social minority. She likes to 'twist' a perfect male or female body into a more hybrid, androgynous body that falls outside the classical categories. An ambition that stems from her belief in the malleability of people and art.
(Galerie EL)
My work is hybrid and multidisciplinary. In my paintings, sculpture and installations, I am searching for definitive forms according to the themes (and problems) of the project. I work from the sensitivity to a material. For example, when I see a pipe pump in a shop that appeals to me, I see it as a shape or object that can be part of a future sculpture.
https://www.wawmagazine.be/nl/etiquettes/cleo-totti
Shapes from everyday life but also a natural landscape, everything can inspire her, but especially the physical appearance of people who belong to a social minority. She likes to 'twist' a perfect male or female body into a more hybrid, androgynous body that falls outside the classical categories. An ambition that stems from her belief in the malleability of people and art.
(Galerie EL)
0 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 20 Oeuvres disponibles
4 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations
The drawing of a bent-over woman by the Italian artist Samuele Canestrari (1996) resonated with me these days in connection with the victory of the Taliban in Afghanistan. This vulnerable woman, whose eyes have been scratched away and who anxiously holds a piece of cloth (it could also be a bunch of cut hair) in her mouth, to me symbolizes the oppression of the woman who is not allowed to see or speak and who is not seen or heard. She is completely naked and therefore extra vulnerable although her genitals are covered. The artist is clearly not concerned with the female body as an object of sexual desire, but with the naked body as a symbol of vulnerability. With this drawing of a single woman, Canestrari has given shape to all women who have been reduced in their oppression to a blind and deaf body. A contemporary form of Munch's Scream. But with the sound muted.
(Chrysalid Gallery)
(Chrysalid Gallery)
0 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 5 Oeuvres disponibles
2 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations
Stief Desmet (1973) would prefer to live in a world without contradictions between city and nature, man and animal, reality and fantasy. How beautiful it would be if you could combine elements from life and imagination to create a perfect world. His work comes from his gut and is inspired by existing images from his environment and our collective memory, which he samples with other images and texts into a new image with a new meaning. He feels akin to the German Neue Wilden who, like him, were almost impulsively looking for truthfulness and purity. Desmet likes to lead the viewer astray and create confusion by physically creating new contexts for existing images such as that of a deer in his version of Munch's Scream:
_In ancient times, deer were abundant in our regions. They have disappeared due to overhunting, urbanization, etc. Now the deer is artificially recovered by means of bronze in the park, logos at butchers and pharmacists, porcelain figures, deer farms,… The deer is just one example. However it often concerns a lack of something that lives among people, with which they want to surround themselves at all costs.|_
(MPV Gallery)
_In ancient times, deer were abundant in our regions. They have disappeared due to overhunting, urbanization, etc. Now the deer is artificially recovered by means of bronze in the park, logos at butchers and pharmacists, porcelain figures, deer farms,… The deer is just one example. However it often concerns a lack of something that lives among people, with which they want to surround themselves at all costs.|_
(MPV Gallery)