 Untitled, 2002 mixed media; approx. 220 x 140 x 140 cm Peter Rogiers During the past few years, Peter Rogiers has been intensively drawing the comic strip "Creator", freely exploiting clichés found in American "comics", as much as in content as in form. It is his intention to transform this into an animated film at a later date. This exhibition of new sculpture and etchings has developed within the context of the comic strip and the animated film. There are bronze heads inspired by the character of "Boy", etchings that bring scenes to life, characters that cinematically move in the background, like the omnipresent palm trees that take on a definite physical form. In spite of this close relationship to the script, the statues give no hint of a narrative. They comply with the many preconceptions relating to figurative art: they are recognisable and expressive forms, but they stay silent. As ever, the new statues by Peter Rogiers deal with the "madness" resulting from the juxtaposition of "multiplicity" and "balance". Again, he is not concerned with varying or further developing a solution he has already discovered, but continues his search for new, more contrasting approaches. These recent statues give while they take, always leading to a dialogue: they are expressionistic in form but lack the most expressive body parts: heads and hands; they contain certain baroque influences but are in themselves closed and private; they are tragicomic and suggest movement but remain emotionally restrained; they have a real/unreal relationship with their pedestals and shroud themselves in greyness. This subtle balance is a result of the repeated questioning by Rogiers of the meaning, or stronger still, the meaningless of the statue. Although he acknowledges the ironic perspective and standpoint of many of his contemporaries, he has retained a true belief and instinct towards plasticity. Eclecticism is for Rogiers not a form of irony but a free search for clarity, just as each statue is born out of the immediate pleasure of intuitively working with materials, of thinking with fingers. The etchings in the exhibition have the same autonomous character as the sculpture. In contrast to traditional sketches by sculptors, that faithfully record the form of a finished piece, these etchings do not mirror the sculpture surrounding them. Rather, they evoke an identical atmosphere on equal terms and show evidence of the same expressive concerns and techniques. As an introduction to the exhibition, Peter Rogiers is showing a selection of drawings from "Creator" on the first floor of the gallery. Exhibition: 22 January - 27 March 2004 Gallery hours: Tue-Sat 12 - 6 pm Xavier Hufkens Gallery Sint-Jorisstraat 6-8 Rue Saint-Georges B-1050 Brussels Telefon +32 2 639 67 30 Fax +32 2 639 67 38 E-Mail info@xavierhufkens.com www.xavierhufkens.com |
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