Anne Bonnet (Brussels 1908-1960) Composition 1950 Oil on canvas
TOUT FEU TOUT FEMME
WOMANPOWER
Anne BONNET Mig QUINET Odette COLLON
Suzanne VAN DAMME Simonetta JUNG
Natalya ZALOZNAYA Ann DIERCKX
Chantal COPPIETERS 't WALLANT
Geneviève GAILLIARD
Mig Quinet "Jazz" 1948
Suzanne Van Damme - The mask of refusal 1952
Simonetta Jung - Homo Novus 1974
Since its founding in 1990 Group 2 Gallery has been promoting relentlessly the work of a large number of female artists. Most recently,
in 2016, « Women in the frontline » featured works by 12 female painters. In 2012 the Gallery had exhibited « The Three Amazones of the Jeune Peinture Belge ». Keeping up with this tradition, the Gallery is pleased to announce its new exhibition "Womanpower" opening on 21 November 2019.
Anne Bonnet ( Brussels 1908-1960 ) , was formed at the Academy of Brussels and Saint-Josse-ten-Node (Professor Jacques Maes), where she became friends with Louis Van Lint and Gaston Bertrand. Her first solo exhibition was held at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels in 1941. In that same year, she became a founding member of the ”Jeune Peinture Belge” ( JPB ) and in 1948 she exhibited at the famous Gallery Apollo. The first period in the work of Bonnet was inspired by animism. Under the influence of “Young French Painters”, she integrated elements of postcubism in her work. In 1948-49 she was inspired by urban landscapes she had seen during her travels, making use of a series of rythmic plans modulating the entire surface of the canvas. Around 1950 Anne Bonnet started to make abstract works and in 1952 she became a founding member of the group "Space", which promoted non-figurative art.
Mig Quinet, born near Charleroi in 1906, was educated at the Academy of Brussels. Her first solo exhibition took place in 1938 at Galerie Manteau in Brussels. She took part in the "Apport" exhibitions at the Apollo Gallery from 1945 onwards. Her acquaintance with Brussels lawyer and mecenas René Lust allowed the foundation of the group of the Jeune Peinture Belge in 1945. During a JPB exhibition in Stockholm in 1947 she was involved in a serious traffic accident. After a long recovery and despite the dissolution of the group in 1948, she fought like a lioness to continue her artistic career. Her abstract works of the 50s, her "allusive figurations" (Serge Goyens de Heusch) of the 60’s and 70’s bear witness to a joy of life and an exceptional originality. The most typical element in her work, however, is the intense use of bright and bold colors. Its fragmented images, the violence of her palette of primary colors, her imagination, her sense of humor, her poetic sensibility, her use of pure white, her bold perspectives, her spirited writing, all this leads us to believe that Mig Quinet deserves to be among the great, not only of the JPB, but of the Belgian modern art scene “tout court”.
Odette Collon, born in Ixelles in 1926, became the youngest member of the Jeune Peinture Belge in 1946 and had her first solo exhibition in 1948 at the famous Lou Cosyn Gallery in Brussels . Her first works focused on human figures and interiors under the influence of animism and fauvism ( Matisse ). Her work bore proof of optimism and joy of life. In the 1960s Collon started making pastels and watercolors. Her work, in which the human figure disappears, evokes nature - rocks, stones, trees, rivers, beach, sea - and gets a meditative touch.
in 2016, « Women in the frontline » featured works by 12 female painters. In 2012 the Gallery had exhibited « The Three Amazones of the Jeune Peinture Belge ». Keeping up with this tradition, the Gallery is pleased to announce its new exhibition "Womanpower" opening on 21 November 2019.
Anne Bonnet ( Brussels 1908-1960 ) , was formed at the Academy of Brussels and Saint-Josse-ten-Node (Professor Jacques Maes), where she became friends with Louis Van Lint and Gaston Bertrand. Her first solo exhibition was held at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels in 1941. In that same year, she became a founding member of the ”Jeune Peinture Belge” ( JPB ) and in 1948 she exhibited at the famous Gallery Apollo. The first period in the work of Bonnet was inspired by animism. Under the influence of “Young French Painters”, she integrated elements of postcubism in her work. In 1948-49 she was inspired by urban landscapes she had seen during her travels, making use of a series of rythmic plans modulating the entire surface of the canvas. Around 1950 Anne Bonnet started to make abstract works and in 1952 she became a founding member of the group "Space", which promoted non-figurative art.
Mig Quinet, born near Charleroi in 1906, was educated at the Academy of Brussels. Her first solo exhibition took place in 1938 at Galerie Manteau in Brussels. She took part in the "Apport" exhibitions at the Apollo Gallery from 1945 onwards. Her acquaintance with Brussels lawyer and mecenas René Lust allowed the foundation of the group of the Jeune Peinture Belge in 1945. During a JPB exhibition in Stockholm in 1947 she was involved in a serious traffic accident. After a long recovery and despite the dissolution of the group in 1948, she fought like a lioness to continue her artistic career. Her abstract works of the 50s, her "allusive figurations" (Serge Goyens de Heusch) of the 60’s and 70’s bear witness to a joy of life and an exceptional originality. The most typical element in her work, however, is the intense use of bright and bold colors. Its fragmented images, the violence of her palette of primary colors, her imagination, her sense of humor, her poetic sensibility, her use of pure white, her bold perspectives, her spirited writing, all this leads us to believe that Mig Quinet deserves to be among the great, not only of the JPB, but of the Belgian modern art scene “tout court”.
Odette Collon, born in Ixelles in 1926, became the youngest member of the Jeune Peinture Belge in 1946 and had her first solo exhibition in 1948 at the famous Lou Cosyn Gallery in Brussels . Her first works focused on human figures and interiors under the influence of animism and fauvism ( Matisse ). Her work bore proof of optimism and joy of life. In the 1960s Collon started making pastels and watercolors. Her work, in which the human figure disappears, evokes nature - rocks, stones, trees, rivers, beach, sea - and gets a meditative touch.
The very first exhibition of Group 2 Gallery back in 1990 was a homage to Suzanne Van Damme. In 1992 the gallery organized a second solo show "Suzanne Van Damme - from Realism to Surrealism", followed by a confrontation of her work with that of her husband Bruno Capacci in 1996. In 2010 Group 2 Gallery celebrated its 20th anniversary with another solo exhibition of Suzanne Van Damme.
Simonetta Jung was born in Palermo, Sicily, in 1917. During her studies her favorite subjects were Art History, Philosophy and, above all, Science. Later she took a particular interest in the memoirs of Einstein, who foresaw the possibility that, through the intuition of artists, abstract art would be able to express complex and hard to perceive interstellary relations. With her so called "Forme-Luce" paintings she held her first personal exhibition in 1954 in Milano, where she met Lucio Fontana, who called her paintings “spatial art”. She became a member of the Movimento Arte Concreta – Gruppo Spaziale. In 1955 she held solo exhibitions in Florence, Venice, Rome and in the famous Duveen-Graham Gallery in Madison Ave, New York. Her work entered into important american collections and museums. Around 1958, she starts a second cycle, called "Tensioni Formative", closely related to abstract expressionism and Cobra. The artist states that the “Forme-Luce” and “Tensioni Formative” series represent the moments “before” and “after” the creation of earth respectively, hereby referring to the theories of Plato. In 1972, living in the USA, the artist embarked on a new cycle of works entitled "Homo Novus", symbolizing the human being turning into a robot. By the end of the seventies, she again altered her style, starting the "Elountha” series. Although her work has been crystallized in various distinct periods, they are in fact organically linked by a slow natural evolution. Works of Simonetta Jung are found in European and American private collections and museums : Columbia University, NY; Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Bruce Museum, Greenwich; Pratt Institute, Brooklyn; Stanford University Museum, CA; Brandeis University Museum, MA etc..
Ann Dierckx ( Genk, Belgium 1960 ) is a gifted artist continuously experimenting and making use of various techniques to achieve special effects. Her paintings are first prepared by putting several layers of mixtures on top of each other, a technique of which she alone knows the formula. On a meticulously prepared surface, the artist applies an almost transparent layer of oil paint or watercolor. Sometimes she covers the dried surface with beeswax, making it soft and sensual to the touch. The thus obtained rich texture forms an integral part of the composition to the same degree as the graphic itself. Sobriety, serenity and balance are the key words that characterize her work. Her art bears proof of the fact that minimalism and a refined simplicity lead us to meditation.
Chantal Coppieters t'Wallant (Brussels 1950) is a multidisciplinary artist making watercolors, ink drawings, pastels, acrylic and vinyl paintings. From the theme of sports ( skateboard - American football - motorcycles - F1 – cycling ), her work gradually evolved to Abstract Constructivism. Her work has already been shown at Group 2 Gallery in 2014 ( Exhibition “The Power of Black & White” ).
Natalya Zaloznaya ( Minsk, Belarus 1960 ) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Minsk where she met her future husband, the painter Igor Tishin. Jeruzalem deeply marked the work of Natalya. One of her favorite themes is the projection of the historical past in today's reality. We see in her work a homecoming: the landscapes of her native country, her childhood memories and ancestral traditions. Her technique is very personal: pieces of paper soaked in paint are glued on the canvas, then scratched, crumpled, covered by other layers of color and word elements from shorthand symbols and ideograms in whole sentences, including Kafka, Van Gogh. This "literary landscape" and irregular relief is reminiscent of ancient manuscripts. Zaloznaya's work is imbued with poetry. Thus, the titles of her works do not always reveal their secrets: the viewer must discover himself what the artist is willing to express. Several paintings by Zaloaznaya were exhibited at the Belarus Pavilion at the Venice Biennial in 2005.
Simonetta Jung was born in Palermo, Sicily, in 1917. During her studies her favorite subjects were Art History, Philosophy and, above all, Science. Later she took a particular interest in the memoirs of Einstein, who foresaw the possibility that, through the intuition of artists, abstract art would be able to express complex and hard to perceive interstellary relations. With her so called "Forme-Luce" paintings she held her first personal exhibition in 1954 in Milano, where she met Lucio Fontana, who called her paintings “spatial art”. She became a member of the Movimento Arte Concreta – Gruppo Spaziale. In 1955 she held solo exhibitions in Florence, Venice, Rome and in the famous Duveen-Graham Gallery in Madison Ave, New York. Her work entered into important american collections and museums. Around 1958, she starts a second cycle, called "Tensioni Formative", closely related to abstract expressionism and Cobra. The artist states that the “Forme-Luce” and “Tensioni Formative” series represent the moments “before” and “after” the creation of earth respectively, hereby referring to the theories of Plato. In 1972, living in the USA, the artist embarked on a new cycle of works entitled "Homo Novus", symbolizing the human being turning into a robot. By the end of the seventies, she again altered her style, starting the "Elountha” series. Although her work has been crystallized in various distinct periods, they are in fact organically linked by a slow natural evolution. Works of Simonetta Jung are found in European and American private collections and museums : Columbia University, NY; Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Bruce Museum, Greenwich; Pratt Institute, Brooklyn; Stanford University Museum, CA; Brandeis University Museum, MA etc..
Ann Dierckx ( Genk, Belgium 1960 ) is a gifted artist continuously experimenting and making use of various techniques to achieve special effects. Her paintings are first prepared by putting several layers of mixtures on top of each other, a technique of which she alone knows the formula. On a meticulously prepared surface, the artist applies an almost transparent layer of oil paint or watercolor. Sometimes she covers the dried surface with beeswax, making it soft and sensual to the touch. The thus obtained rich texture forms an integral part of the composition to the same degree as the graphic itself. Sobriety, serenity and balance are the key words that characterize her work. Her art bears proof of the fact that minimalism and a refined simplicity lead us to meditation.
Chantal Coppieters t'Wallant (Brussels 1950) is a multidisciplinary artist making watercolors, ink drawings, pastels, acrylic and vinyl paintings. From the theme of sports ( skateboard - American football - motorcycles - F1 – cycling ), her work gradually evolved to Abstract Constructivism. Her work has already been shown at Group 2 Gallery in 2014 ( Exhibition “The Power of Black & White” ).
Natalya Zaloznaya ( Minsk, Belarus 1960 ) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Minsk where she met her future husband, the painter Igor Tishin. Jeruzalem deeply marked the work of Natalya. One of her favorite themes is the projection of the historical past in today's reality. We see in her work a homecoming: the landscapes of her native country, her childhood memories and ancestral traditions. Her technique is very personal: pieces of paper soaked in paint are glued on the canvas, then scratched, crumpled, covered by other layers of color and word elements from shorthand symbols and ideograms in whole sentences, including Kafka, Van Gogh. This "literary landscape" and irregular relief is reminiscent of ancient manuscripts. Zaloznaya's work is imbued with poetry. Thus, the titles of her works do not always reveal their secrets: the viewer must discover himself what the artist is willing to express. Several paintings by Zaloaznaya were exhibited at the Belarus Pavilion at the Venice Biennial in 2005.