GILBERT SWIMBERGHE
MARCASE
INTROSPECTION
EXHIBITION : June 2 - July 8 2017
Group 2 Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of two well known artists from West Flanders : Gilbert Swimberghe
( Bruges 1927 - Brussels 2015 ) and Marcase ( Waregem 1946 ). The exhibition will be held with the patronage of Emeritus Professor Dr Willem Elias ( Free University of Brussels - VUB ), Art critic ( AICA ) and President of the Institute of Fine Arts in Ghent ( HISK ). Professor Elias has published a wide range of books about modern art in Flanders.
Gilbert Swimberghe was born in Bruges in 1927. He studied at the Fine Arts Academies in Bruges ( 1940-46 ) and in Brussels ( 1947-48 ). His first works were figurative in the flemish expressionist tradition ( still lifes, portraits and landscapes ). In the 1950's his work evolved gradually to full abstraction. Swimberghe has participated in the movement of monochrome pictorial and sculptural expression of the late fifties and sixties, like the Zero group ( Mack, Piene, Uecker, Leblanc ), Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni, Yves Klein, Jef Verheyen a.o.
Prof. Elias wrote that the artist continously investigated the possibilities of working with only one color or a limited combination of multiple shades of that colour. His work is very recognisable is in its limitation and economy of means ( minimalism, less is more ). The present exhibition focuses on the so-called "Grey" and "Blue" periods ( starting in the 1990's ) of the artist's career, featuring geometrical forms, especially the triangle.
A fine book about the artist by was published by Snoeck-Ducaju and the Credit Communal of Belgium in 1997.
Marcase was born in Waregem ( West Flanders ) in 1946. He studied at the St-Lucas Institute in Ghent and at the Fine Arts Academy in Deinze, Belgium. He was awarded the prize of the "Young Belgian Painters" in 1978 and the "Grand Prize of Rome" in 1979. The artist, who insists that he's not an abstract painter, declares that his work is the result of the confrontation between nature and culture. Professor Elias considers "Serendipity" as key in explaining Marcase's modus operandi : for forty years already he has been finding what he's not been looking for. The same principle applies to the viewer looking at Marcase's paintings which strike by their simplicity, serenity and spirituality. The very typical Marcase line evokes the outer space. The difference between his typical lines and a foggy landscape is often quite small. The lines in his recent works are the reflections of Marcase's inner world and emerge from his body and from his inner soul. A fine book about the artist by Prof. Elias was published by Lannoo, Tielt in 2016.
Previous Exhibition : The Conquest of Space Read More
