La mort du pilote
acrylique sur toile
50 x 65 cm
1997
Galactique
acrylique sur toile
100x100cm
2004
Installation, ISELP, Bruxelles
avril 2007
I think that, for the working process as much as for the conceptual aims, there are two major factors in my work: layers and complexity.
I might worship simplicity as a remarkable quality in life and art, but I think sheer simplicity has solid roots. Simplicity has nothing to do with gimmicks and instant access. A black square by Malevich, or a Tai-Chi gesture are the results of a complex process. The same for a great popular song. I feel less and less comfortable about easy answers to the world’s problems. The more questions you ask yourself, the subtler the answers become. But this questioning process has nothing to do with suffering. There’s a feeling of dazed joy in thinking of the billions of galaxies in the universe, and the billions of cells in our body. Each simple action (my hand moves, the leaf falls) is the result of a complex miracle.
Therefore, talking about creation, if I ever have to paint a ship, I would not be happy with a simple rendering. I must show the engine room and the captain’s lost childhood.
This is why, maybe like Sean O’Hagan in his music, I generally work with multiple layers. It’s like building Rome every time, from the foundations to the finishing decorative touch. Many skeptics will reject the results as confused, unclear. As for me, I think that in my work the viewer is offered an interesting journey, from the first appeal of the surface (the melody) to the other truth hidden behind (the arrangement).
Those multiple layers give resonance and harmony. High and low references can happily entwine, shapes becoming images. Dissonances lurk in harmony, contradictions unite to create an original picture. Beauty can arise, even though it’s a forbidden aim when cynicism dominates.
The difference between art and advertising is this: depth and complexity. In advertising, you must instantly get the idea. It’s not the way it works with Velasquez or Beethoven. You honor the viewer when you consider his intelligence and his curiosity. This is what we try to do with the musical painting.
Jean Pierre Muller |
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