Jan Van Imschoot: la présentation des absents

Uittreksel

"Since his beginnings, the Belgian painter Jan Van Imschoot confronts pictorial language and verbal language by exploring the multiple layers of meaning left by the great Western painters in their works. With The presentation of the absent, a new series of paintings by Jan van Imschoot exhibited at the Templon gallery in November 2021, the Belgian artist 'anarcho baroque' continues his research on the meaning of pictorial language by diverting the work of one of its predecessors. After having explored the still lifes of the École du Nord from the 17th century in Le bouillon d’onze heures, Van Imschoot continued his immersion in this genre with, for example, paintings such as La vision féérique. However, it is the work of Manet that he sought above all to apprehend in this second series. As he says, he 'confronts the infinity of [his] imagination with the liberties that Manet takes with the history of art'. This meeting leads to a dizzying mise en abyme. The exchange of nonsense refers to Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass, itself an echo of Suzanne and the Elders of Tintoretto. Van Imschoot brings his own perspective by multiplying the winks and erotic, historical or religious references, in a symbolic fantasy magnified by a mastery of lights and colors worthy of the greatest Flemings. 'The relationship between language and image remains an open territory; words meet their own limits, while art, like a bird, flies over it in complete freedom', concludes the artist. The beautiful book published by the Templon gallery leaves the reader free to explore this freedom in all its details."--Publisher's description.