Sergio De Beukelaer BE, b. 1971

The work of Sergio De Beukelaer looks simple but combines a variety of paradoxes. For example, De Beukelaer uses numerous codes of post-modernistic art from the 1960s and 1970s, such as abstraction, geometry , monochrome, and the “hard edge” technique. But he does so with an irony and playfulness that cannot be reconciled with the attitude of minimalists and fundamental painters. As part of this eclectic approach, classical-modern boundaries are pushed back, without there being any “post-modern” criticism of his predecessors from minimal-,pop-,op-,and concept art. Apparent contrasts, such as figuration and abstraction, flat and spatial, word and image, painting and sculpture,both contaminate and fertilise one another. In the concept of the “fat.canvas”, a three-dimensional painting,the artist leaves the field of classical painting and conquers the painting the space. The shapes, colours and dimensions of De Beukelaer’s works are tempting, but behind the power of these compact images, a surprising impact lurks on closer inspection.

(Johan Pas)