Esther Tielemans: (re)appear

In her new works, Esther Tielemans continues her artistic voyage of discovery into the (reflective) surface of a painting and the involvement of the third dimension. This is a process which began with her installation for the Prix de Rome (De Appel Amsterdam, 2005), in which she displayed her paintings and space as reflections in a black, glossy surface. In her recent work, she goes a step further and the aspect of landscape is less central to the theme. Tielemans now concentrates completely on the most elementary aspects of painting: a study of form, colour and subject matter.

In this exhibition, bearing the title ‘(re)appear’, Tielemans takes as her starting point a total concept:the reappearance of the painted image in its most elementary form. The works can be viewed individually but they are, at the same time, very closely involved with each other. The 9-part work Skyline, a collection of panels displaying coloured surfaces and abstract landscapes, is reflected in her counter-piece situated opposite: Skyline (shadow), a collection of panels identical in shape but executed in black, glossy epoxy resin. The work Fire, in which the landscape can just be discerned as a black, charred background before being engulfed by the advancing flames, has its counterpart in Fire (mirror, detail), in which Tielemans has painted a complete mirror image of this display. In the series Big Bang, her study into the elementary components of painting reaches its zenith. This five-part series of monochrome works, executed in the primary colours and the ‘non-colours’ of black and white, betrays its image and structure only in the basic work, in which the sealing epoxy coating has remained transparent.

In fact, in this exhibition the viewer sees three different forms of (re)appearing: the literal mirror image, the painted mirror image and the painted after-image in the monochrome works. With the reflection, used on the one hand as a counterpart and a (correcting) tool and, on the other hand, as an analysis of the painting’s surface, Tielemans returns as never before to the true art of painting.

Esther Tielemans was born in 1976 in Helmond, the Netherlands. She studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam from 2001 to 2003. In recent years, her works have been exhibited at (among others) Galerie Akinci, Galerie Zürcher in Paris (2003, 2005, 2008), Prix de Rome, Stichting De Appel Amsterdam (2005), Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven (2008, together with Lily van der Stokker) and Stedelijk Museum Schiedam (2008). Her work is currently on display in the exhibition 'Checking Reality' in Platform 21, Amsterdam. In September 2009, Galerie Zürcher will open a gallery in New York with Tielemans’ work.

Esther Tielemans
(re)appear