Hans Theys

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    Hans Theys is a twentieth-century philosopher and art historian. He has written and designed dozens of books on the works of contemporary artists and published hundreds of essays, interviews and reviews in books, catalogues and magazines. All his publications are based on actual collaborations and conversations with artists.

    This platform was developed by Evi Bert (M HKA / Centrum Kunstarchieven Vlaanderen) in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp (Research group Archivolt), M HKA, Antwerp and Koen Van der Auwera. We also thank Idris Sevenans (HOR) and Marc Ruyters (Hart Magazine).

    ESSAYS, INTERVIEWS & REVIEWS

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    xpo - 2017 - Friendly Fire [NL, review]
    Hans Theys
    Review , 1 p.




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    Hans Theys


    Inferno’s Floor
    New collages by Damien De Lepeleire


    Two years ago, during a residency at the Academia Belgica in Rome, Damien De Lepeleire (°1965) began to pay attention to so-called ornamental attributes of architectural achievements from the middle ages, the renaissance and the baroque period. Eventually this led him to study marble floors (e.g. the medieval cosmatesques) and the mosaics from ancient Rome. What strikes him in these mosaics, is how the visual simplification due to the use of square stones has produced a meeting between mathematics and color and an invention of graphic stratagems the like of which the art of painting didn’t enjoy until the 20th century.

    One might consider the resulting series of collage-paintings, assembled under the title Inferno’s Floor, an homage of the major arts to the so-called minor ones. Gluing small cut-outs from newspapers and art books to canvas, De Lepeleire reconstructs ancient mosaics or invents new ones, shining a distorted light on the patterns of marble floors, the head of a Roman Medusa or Mike Tyson. These are amazing works, light-footed and stern at the same time, intimately linked with De Lepeleire’s previous work, but completely fresh. Paved with good intentions, this painter’s voyage through hell seems to produce more and more breathing space.


    Montagne de Miel, November 22nd 2017

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