The tangible surface is an anchor point closely connected to the oeuvre of Belgian artist Paul Bourgeois (°1941). His well-known poetic perforations, dots or holes in fragile materials, are forms of presence that go beyond the raw medium, opening space for his imagination. The weathered supports, which have already lived several lives before the artist uses them, are nevertheless free of suggestion or explanation. The accumulated remnants of posters, panels made of lead or leather, pieces of zinc or rubber are visual explorations that investigate both the painterly and sculptural gesture.
In both the smaller, handheld formats and the larger works, tactility is embedded in pierced lines and surfaces, unraveled folds and wrinkles as relief forms in a restrained colour palette. Each work demands its own concentration, a gaze that makes you wander and search, back and forth, in order to see its full depth.
The apparent simplicity becomes surprising once you realize that time has left its mark. The aspiration for eternity is challenged by the possibility of oblivion, in which the carefully collected and nearly forgotten remnants are given a new right to exist, a visual future, through the hands of Paul Bourgeois. The repetitive patterns draw full attention to new life and an added layer in the curve of time. Your time.
— Els Wuyts