18 november 2024, Yves Joris
Boundless Abstraction: a search for the unnameable
What happens when we explore the boundaries of the comprehensible, embracing the visible world not as a confined whole, but as an endless space full of unknown dimensions? This is the question central to Boundless Abstraction, an exhibition at the TaLe Art Gallery that highlights abstract art in its many facets, with work by five artists who transcend the traditional boundaries of abstraction. Wim Nival, Stef De Brabander, Jean-Georges Massart, Peter Troucheau and Marc Goddefroy not only present visual objects, but also invite a poetic exploration of the space between visibility and invisibility, meaning and mystery.
In this exhibition, abstraction is not merely an aesthetic idea, but a personal quest. The work on and within the walls of the TaLe Art Gallery is the result of an intense dialogue with materials, forms and impressions. Each artist offers a unique path towards the elusive, the world beyond the visible. In this ‘boundless’ world, we do not find simple answers, but stories that invite reflection. What remains when we let go of the meaning of things and allow them to simply be?
Stef De Brabander, Blueprint, 2024, TaLe Art Gallery
Poetry of the invisible, Stef De Brabander’s quest for meaning
On first seeing Stef De Brabander’s paintings, we are immediately struck by a mysterious silence. They are not a direct translation of the world around us, but an invitation to look deeper, to go beyond superficial images and seek something that is not immediately visible. In his work, De Brabander searches for a different kind of order, one that transcends understandable systems of representation. In his own words, he tries to “exchange understandable systems for a poetic adventure”.
In this quest for the intangible, we are not guided by a linear narrative, but by colour, form and the tension that arises between them. The abstraction De Brabander creates is not shapeless chaos, but a poetic labyrinth in which each path holds its own meaning. His paintings and collages evoke a sense of wonder, not because they tell a clear story, but because they invite us to find meaning in the unnameable. Herein lies a deep desire to capture the unknown and give us, the viewer, room for our own interpretations. This makes his work not only abstract, but almost spiritual—a quest for the essence of life itself.
Marc Goddefroy. lots_eaj_230128, 2023, TaLe Art Gallery
Language of the senses, Marc Goddefroy’s intuitive approach to material
Marc Goddefroy’s work is a dialogue—not between the artist and canvas, but between the material and maker. In his approach, abstraction does not arise from emptying representation, but from the freedom of intuition. Goddefroy’s art oscillates between the organic and geometric, between the spontaneous outburst of intuition and a calm arrangement of form and colour. He speaks of the influence of poetry, literature and even music on his work—elements that can enrich abstraction, but never fully explain it. His work is not a rational construction, but a feeling, a memory, a moment of beauty that transcends words and shapes.
Goddefroy shares this about his creative processes: “Emotions and intuition, wonder, visual exploration, structures, play and events ... These form the core of my work, creating a visual experience that is both personal and universal.”
both personal and universal.” The artwork he presents is imbued with his own experience of the world, but also with a sense of connection to something greater. What Goddefroy creates is a continual reinterpretation of his own emotional landscape. His work involves both physical objects and spiritual reflections of the maker himself, a visual manifestation of thoughts and feelings that are hard to express in words.
Jean-Georges Massart, No. 19, 2011, TaLe Art Gallery
Metamorphosis of the found object: Jean-Georges Massart and the power of simplicity
Jean-Georges Massart’s work is a direct reflection of the philosophy of simplicity. His creative process does not start with an idea or concept, but with an act of gathering. Walking, searching, finding—these are the fundamental actions Massart undertakes before transforming his objects into art. But what does he do with these found objects? They undergo a transformation, but the power of Massart’s work lies in his respect for the object itself. Each twig, each stone, is to him a potential bearer of meaning. Massart does not give the objects a new identity, but emphasises their original values and properties.
The simplicity that characterises his work is anything but ... simple. It is a quiet, subtle strength that speaks through the careful way the materials are presented. Massart allows the objects to tell their own story. His work is not a disguise of nature, but a tribute to the beauty inherent in everyday things. The objects he gathers are given a new role in the world through their transformation, but the respect for their original essence remains visible. It is a tribute to the wonders of simplicity, the power of everyday things we often fail to notice.
The space of the unspeakable: Peter Troucheau’s emotional abstractions
Troucheau’s work has something fluid, something elusive, about it. In his paintings, the lines are never definitive, the shapes never fully delineated. His abstractions often seem incomplete, undecided, as if something remains hidden—something we cannot or may not know. Troucheau refers to overpainting as a way to suppress something while simultaneously revealing something else. The remnants of what is hidden remain visible. This is the paradox of his work: what is not visible becomes just as important as what is.
His abstractions are therefore not merely visual forms, but also psychological and emotional spaces. The suggestion of space in his work is an important aspect, as it invites the viewer to imagine a story that unfolds behind the abstraction. Troucheau works with oil pastels, pencil lines and layers of paint that together create a sense of emotional depth. His paintings do not speak directly, but suggest something of the human experience—a quest for the unspeakable. This is art that goes beyond the visual, evoking an emotional resonance that lingers.
Wim Nival, Z.T., 2021, TaLe Art Gallery
Collecting, preserving and reinterpreting: Wim Nival’s objects and time
Wim Nival collects things. He describes it as “an exercise in preservation and exploration”. His work often does not begin with an idea, but with an object—an item found at a flea market or something he happens on that evokes a feeling. It is the magic of the found object, the unusual within the ordinary, that drives his work. But Nival does not consider himself the owner of the objects he collects; they ‘reside’ with him temporarily until he decides what to do with them. They speak to him, whispering stories that the viewer may not immediately hear, but that resonate in the silence of his work.
Time is a crucial factor in Nival’s work. The objects he collects carry the history of their existence with them. They are imbued with traces of their past and evoke memories that go beyond the objects themselves. This idea of time—of preserving memories in materials—is an underlying theme in his work. The objects are not simply re-presented, but given new meaning through the context in which they are placed. In the simplicity of the found object, Nival finds a universal meaning—a reminder of the transience of things.
Boundless Abstraction as an invitation to discovery
What makes this exhibition so unique? It is the invitation to look, but not only to look. The work of Nival, De Brabander, Massart, Troucheau and Goddefroy does not impose stories on us, but gives us space to find our own. The abstractions presented are not a definition, not a framework, but a poetic adventure—an invitation to look beyond the visible and explore the invisible world.
In Boundless Abstraction, art is not presented as something we need to understand, but as something we want to feel. It does not fill space; on the contrary, it opens up space—space for wonder, for interpretation, for reflection. It is the promise that even if we cannot see everything, there is always something to discover. Abstraction is not the end of the story, but the beginning of a new journey of discovery.
Boundless Abstraction, TaLe Art Gallery
