Dear Visitor ,
please look around on the webside, if you look at these works, you could get the impression that we are dealing with three artists. That’s not the case, everything is from a single source. From the hand of the Flemish artist Julie de Bleeckere. As different as her works may be, as uniform and coherent are her messages.
It is said that painting begins where words no longer suffice. Then thoughts and ideas disguise themselves in meaning-pictures with infinitely many signs and it means for the viewer: “Look, be silent and tolerate”.
On the one hand, one should always bear in mind that every creative work reflects an artist’s soul, even more so, a human soul that is as fragile as that of each one of us, and on the other hand one cannot and must not question everything. And so everyone can decide for himself about beauty and aesthetics.
In Julie’s art, too, biographical experiences come through.
The flow of time in recent years has shown that her work is series work. It becomes obvious that, depending on the mood and availability of the means, pictures are created that deal with a similar painterly theme. Ultimately, this also constitutes the artist’s work, her œuvre, and stands for her own signature.
Her series include Fading Memories and Stones.
Julie de Bleeckere’s painterly presentations thrive on an emphatic emphasis on the surface through light, color, and dimensioning. The old-masterly and nostalgic style testifies to numerous art historical references, such as the depiction of keys or stones similar to a vanitas depiction, where transience is at stake.
In her works Fading Memories, the butterfly is not chosen by chance, but deliberately. The butterfly is the symbol of a powerful metarmophose.
The power animal butterfly has always had a special meaning for humans. Through its transformation from a lifeless cocoon to a tender butterfly, many people see it as a symbol of rebirth. In ancient Greece, the word ‘psyche’ was used to describe the butterfly because it was considered to be the souls of the dead. In Greek and Roman mythology the soul therefore often appears with butterfly wings.
With this series Julie would like to clarify the following: “The fading of the memory, the feeling, the atmosphere, the idea that something is not yet finished, that something could still unfold.”
In this series she deliberately works on a photo print because of the importance of symbolism. Photos also fade, just like a memory. A photo is a shot of a moment. The medium of photography is memory and remembrance: it shows a past and when we look at it, we like to remember it. And here there is a connection with her painting. Sometimes she deliberately works quite roughly. The finer she works, the more spontaneity fades. It’s fleeting, like a memory. And basically, the butterfly is also an animal that is only briefly remembered when it touches us.
Nature plays a very important role in her works. She is fascinated by it and above all she is interested in the relationship between nature and man.
I classify her in the Romantic epoch, especially with her stone series. She told me that one of her inspirations in art was Caspar David Friedrich.
In response to the rationalist tendencies of the Enlightenment, Romantic artists in the 18th century sought to portray the supernatural. Artists like Caspar David Friedrich therefore focused on the desire for the mysterious and a mythical world that included the dreamy and the inexplicable. As a result, all the themes that were inexplicable and wonderful were particularly attractive, which is why wild and untamed nature was considered essential in Romanticism.
Her large-format works with rock motifs seem to be like an enlargement, like an oversized detail of a memory. Her love for nature is the result of her training as a garden architect. But here everything seems to be quiet, almost without life. But this is deceptive, she herself says: “stones live”.
Julie also photographs her stones, and as with humans, some stones are more photogenic than others, while others can only capture the special beauty to a limited extent. And anyway, the image of such a stone cannot be compared with holding it in your hands and turning and turning it, perhaps getting a feeling for what you are dealing with…
Tekst: Miriam Elebe – Arthistorian
NL – De schilderijen van Julie De Bleeckere kunnen niet onder een en dezelfde noemer worden geschaard. Haar werk kent echter een vertakking zonder zich al te ver van eenzelfde thematiek te verwijderen.
Stilzwijgende, mystieke rotsen, de vergankelijkheid van een hoopje op elkaar gestapelde schedels, lege en eenzame ruimtes: Het zijn beelden die zich steeds opnieuw herhalen in het werk van Julie De Bleeckere. Anderzijds zijn er haar eerder conceptueel maatschappelijk getinte schilderijen : een pistool op een bord, een gifgroene beschermingspak, een gasmasker, …
Centraal staan telkens weer thematieken als het gebrek aan menselijke communicatie en interactie, leegte, gelaten eenzaamheid, alsook de haast ironische dualiteit tussen bescherming en dreiging.
De kunstenares heeft zich in de loop der jaren een eigen, authentieke schriftuur aangemeten. Magere lagen overlappen elkaar en laten ruimte voor transparantie. Deze schriftuur lijkt op geen enkele manier geforceerd, maar ondersteunt en versterkt daarentegen de gelaagdheid van haar thematieken.
Tekst Wouter Verbeke
FR – Les œuvres de Julie De Bleeckere ne peuvent pas être classées dans une direction ou une appellation uniques.
Son travail est constitué par de multiples ramifications, mais qui ne s’éloignent jamais d’une thématique récurrente.Rochers silencieux et mystiques, espaces vides et solitaires, souvent lumineux, d’où on sent que le bonheur pourrait surgir à tous moments.
Ce sont ces thèmes qui se retrouvent souvent dans les œuvres de l’artiste.
Par ailleurs on découvre des œuvres teintées du concept de notre société, un pistolet posé sur une assiette, un masque à gaz, un habit de protection vert acide.
Ce qui constitue une thématique centrale dans ses œuvres, c’est le manque de connections, d’interactions, de communications humaines, la solitude ainsi que la dualité ironique entre protection et agression.
Au fil des années, l’artiste s’est construit une écriture personnelle. Des couches minces de peinture qui se recouvrent les unes aux autres, laissant la place à une transparence profonde. Cette écriture personnelle n’est jamais forcée ou truquée, mais renforce et soutiens au contraire la stratification de sa thématique.
Tekst Wouter Verbeke