Roger Van de Wouwer

Roger Van de Wouwer

Roger Van de Wouwer November 2003
Born (1933-07-21)July 21, 1933
Hoboken (Antwerp) Belgium
Died October 22, 2005(2005-10-22) (aged 72)
Wilrijk (Antwerp) Belgium
Nationality Belgian
Style Surrealist painter

Roger Van de Wouwer (Hoboken (Antwerp), July 21, 1933 - Wilrijk (Antwerp), October 22, 2005) was a Belgian surrealist painter and illustrator.

Biography

Roger Van de Wouwer (sometimes incorrectly : Roger Van de Wouver) was born on July 21, 1933 in Hoboken (Antwerp). At the age of 16, eager to become a photographer, he attended daytime drawing classes at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp and evening courses at the " Vrije Nijverheids- en Beroepsschool", a school where technicians were trained for the Gevaert factory (now Agfa-Gevaert). He specialised in developing and producing photographic materials. After his military service, during which he had the opportunity to go to the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts of Brussels, he was hired by the photoengraver De Schutter. In 1955 he was hired by Gevaert, where he stayed until his retirement. There he met Leo Dohmen,[1] a great disciple of surrealism, who introduced him to Gilbert Senecaut,[2] who in turn introduced him to Tom Gutt. These three encounters were critical for the young painter.

Roger Van de Wouwer's first solo exhibition took place in 1963 in the Library-Gallery of Henri Mercier in Brussels, where several paintings (Galathée, L'incorruptible) created a scandal and led to legal complaints. Tom Gutt reacted by writing a pamphlet in which he accurately described Roger Van de Wouwer's creative mind. He wrote:

Roger van de Wouwer a ouvert à toute volée les portes qui protégeaient la routine. Il est des fracas gais à entendre. A peine si, autour des gonds, quelques débris subsistent. Chacune de ses toiles constitue une salve contre le déjà vu. Le défi le plus intense circule comme une flamme à travers sa peinture.

The pamphlet gathered about fifty signatures, but was not well received in France, even by the surrealist group, where some considered Galathée to be an insult to women.

Roger Van de Wouwer has often use artistic trends to his advantage, but sometimes preceded them. His picture Tableau reproduces the definition of the word “tableau” (painting) as it is found in the dictionary, long before conceptual art made it common practice. This is only one of the multiple ways he questioned the meaning and function of images. Hence, the work of Roger Van de Wouwer is related to the style of Marcel Duchamp and his ready-made art. However, it also in contradiction with them, namely when he reproduced, with his paintbrush and scrupulous precision, the enlarged picture of an electronic circuit (La Transmission de la pensée) or used images with intriguing scientific origins. At the beginning of his career, more than merely seducing the eyes, every painting forced the mind to think in a different way. Later, he painted series, bringing together on the canvas elements in which the distance in meaning intensifies the power of the image: the cycles of combustion engines together with Manneken Pis,[3] erected members combined with various crosses, diagrams of modern physics embedded in alchemical symbols, etc. There are numerous paintings based on «le défi et la révolte» (challenge and rebellion), as recommended by Paul Nougé. One of these paintings can certainly be understood as a manifesto: it depicts a boxing glove coloured as if it were a painter's palette (La Décantation). Together with Gilles Brenta, Van de Wouwer created a series of paintings (Douaniers sans frontières) whose attraction lies in the complementarity of the painters, each completing half-paintings started by the other. This project, completed in 1995, was the last important work of Roger Van de Wouwer, who died October 22, 2005.

Solo exhibitions

Collective exhibitions

Individual publications

Illustrations

Films

A bout portant,[9] a film bout Roger Van de Wouwer, directed by Claude François,[10] written by Jean Wallenborn and Claude François, produced by PBC Pictures, Ambiances asbl, RTBF/Unité Documentaire, with support of the Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Communauté Française de Belgique and the Walloon distributors (2006).

Le Désordre alphabétique,[11] a film about surrealism in Belgium, written and directed by Claude François, produced by Image Création (2012).

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Leo Dohmen
  2. ↑ Surréalisme et dada à Anvers, Belgique: Gilbert Senecaut (1925-1997)
  3. ↑ Exposition Arts et Sciences
  4. ↑ Jan Cremer
  5. ↑ Exposition Arts et Sciences
  6. ↑ Mons magazine Mars 2007 / 34
  7. ↑ Un abécédaire pour La Louvière
  8. ↑ Drawing "Untitled"
  9. ↑ A bout portant.(A bout portant)
  10. ↑ Claude François (Claude François (cineast))
  11. ↑ Le Désordre alphabétique (Le Désordre alphabétique )
  12. ↑ Verbeke Foundation)
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