Ante Timmermans
"He would fall. He had not yet fallen but he would fall silently, in an instant. Not to fall was too hard, too hard: and he felt the silent lapse of his soul, as it would be at some instant to come, falling, falling but not yet fallen, still unfallen but about to fall."
- James Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Five momental works by Ante Timmermans are presented in the exhibition Alone Together: Ohne, Redekonstrukt, Ohne Titel, Komposition 1973 For T. en Leerekonstrukt. They can be understood as abstract expressions of Timmermans’ continuous search for meaning in that which is inherently idle and impossible. The works are the result of a long and solitary process. Or, in the words of Timmermans: ‘I feel the need to be alone to create new things (...). If you are really fundamentally absorbed in the studio, the work becomes you. You need that loneliness in the studio.’ (interview Hilde Van Canneyt, 2013).
These works exude a physical response; they are felt in space, and can be understood as abstract expressions of solitude as a layered experience characterized by slowness, doubt, circular thinking, trial, failure, reconsiderations. The drawing in ‘splendid isolation’. The visitor in ‘splendid isolation’.
Courtesy the artist
Ohne, 2019, woodcut, acrylic, oil paint, oilstick, pencil, wood panel, 306 x 205 cm
Redekonstrukt, 2019, acrylic, pencil, wood panel, 306 x 205 cm
Ohne Titel, 2019, woodcut, wood panel, 306 x 205 cm
Komposition 1973 For T., 2019, woodcut, pigment, synthetic resin dispersion, acrylic, pencil, ink, wood panel, 306 x 205 cm
Courtesy the artist and private collection
Leerekonstrukt, 2019, woodcut, acrylic, pencil, wood panel, 306 x 205 cm
Image credit: Ante Timmermans Emergent © Rachel Gruijters
Ante Timmermans
°1976, Ninove, Belgium
The work of Belgian artist
is inspired by the absurdity of living, its cycles and repetitiveness. It raises questions about our existence and how to remain still in this noise. Repetitive structures included in his work attempt to organise the surrounding chaos. While in earlier works, Timmermans often resorted to figurative work to express the perceived absurdity of (social) systems, his recent work is abstract, not standing in for anything but itself. Language and the juggling of words and meaning play a constant role throughout his practice, which involves drawing, painting, sculpture, installation and performance. Recent solo exhibitions of Ante Timmermans include Emergent, Veurne, (with Charl van Ark) (2019), Les Tanneries, Centre d'art contemporain, Amilly (2019), GEM, Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Den Haag (2016), Be-Part, Waregem (2015), Kunsthalle Sao Paulo (2014) and Kunstmuseum St.Gallen (2012). His work has been shown in numerous group exhibitions worldwide, and is part of prominent collections both in Belgium and abroad. Ante Timmermans lives and works in Gent.