Paradoxical Unification

The Groeninge Museum provided a complex exhibition that reinterpreted the work of the Flemish Primitives. I loved that the work was created by a female artist who was influenced by her studies of Chinese calligraphy. These added dimensions of cross-cultural artistic practices and stylistic techniques to this strictly Flemish work, reminding me of the manga exhibition at the World Museum in Rotterdam. The continual presence of multiculturalism in the various countries we have visited confirms my belief that multiculturalism today is a greater factor in determining the identity of the people in the Low Countries than racial or perhaps national purity once was.

Fabienne Verdier triptych

Unlike the fine detailing that characterized the paintings of the Flemish Primitives, the work of this artist, Fabienne Verdier, features minimalist elements such as thick brush strokes of vivid colors against complementary colored canvases, and fine black strokes against solid white backgrounds. Inspired by Chinese calligraphy, Verdier uses quick, swirling strokes to reinterpret the works of these great artists. The works in this exhibition were very modern in style and somewhat unreadable as modern art often is. However, the black and white paintings immediately reminded me of portrait silhouettes, introducing to me a new perspective of the theme of identity as it relates to minimalism.

Fabienne Verdier paintings

I was particularly interested in how these latter black and white paintings operated as one work. Situated alongside one another, the juxtaposition of the paintings allows for differentiation between the paintings' different identities. However, due to their overall visual similarities, the equal spacing between the frames, and the single linear arrangement of the paintings on the gallery wall, the works are simultaneously presented as equal in their identities. I believe this is due to the overall lack of identity that each of these paintings possess. Once interpreted as a silhouette, questions regarding individuality and personality arise. Comprised primarily of lines, these portraits lack any significant means of differentiation. No one is greater than the other. Everything is read in black and white, literally.

At first glance, this unified reading of the black and white paintings greatly differs from the more vibrant triptych above that celebrates contrast. However, after analyzing the exhibition as a whole, I believe the vibrant triptychs (there were multiple) provide a commentary for the black and white paintings and identity in general. While visually contrasting in color, the triptychs are comprised of complementary colors, colors that are meant to coexist. In difference, then, there is a sense of unity, a theme that is present within the black and white paintings, though in this latter case, unity is a possibility because identity is visually absent.

I believe this is the perfect commentary on multiculturalism as it exists within the Low Countries. Each country we have visited possesses a very multicultural identity. Belgium, and the region of Flanders, is no exception. The Flemish culture exists in opposition to its divide with French Wallonia. Like the vibrant triptych, Flanders exists as a complement to Wallonia, ultimately comprising the contradictory unified country of Belgium.

 

Sophia