Raoul De Keyser Angouleme, 1994 Oil on canvas, 55×31,5cm Collection S.M.A.K.: long-term loan of the Collection of the Flemish Community Photo credit: Dirk Pauwels © Family Raoul De Keyser | SABAM Belgium 2018
Hugh Mendes
Raoul De Keyser
Artist
For nearly fifty years, Raoul De Keyser (1930-2012) created subtly evocative paintings and works on paper which appear at once straightforward and cryptic, abstract and figurative. Composed of basic but indefinable shapes and marks, his works often invoke spatial and figural illusions, though they remain elusive of any descriptive narrative. Despite – or precisely because of – their sparse gesturing, De Keyser’s works convey a grandeur that inspires prolonged contemplation. Individually as well as collectively, his works revolve around the activity of painting, but also move beyond its physical means to become more than the sum of their parts. Their apparent simplicity belies a lengthy gestation period, which is guided largely by intuition, rather than by following a pre-existing plan.
Major surveys of the artist’s paintings and retrospectives have been presented at Whitechapel Gallery, London; Musée de Rochechouart, France; Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland; Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany. Other venues that have hosted important solo exhibitions over the past decade include the S.M.A.K. / Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent (2001).
Work by the artist is held in permanent collections worldwide, including Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among many others.
Raoul De Keyser
Artist
For nearly fifty years, Raoul De Keyser (1930-2012) created subtly evocative paintings and works on paper which appear at once straightforward and cryptic, abstract and figurative. Composed of basic but indefinable shapes and marks, his works often invoke spatial and figural illusions, though they remain elusive of any descriptive narrative. Despite – or precisely because of – their sparse gesturing, De Keyser’s works convey a grandeur that inspires prolonged contemplation. Individually as well as collectively, his works revolve around the activity of painting, but also move beyond its physical means to become more than the sum of their parts. Their apparent simplicity belies a lengthy gestation period, which is guided largely by intuition, rather than by following a pre-existing plan.
Major surveys of the artist’s paintings and retrospectives have been presented at Whitechapel Gallery, London; Musée de Rochechouart, France; Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland; Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany. Other venues that have hosted important solo exhibitions over the past decade include the S.M.A.K. / Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent (2001).
Work by the artist is held in permanent collections worldwide, including Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among many others.
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Raoul De Keyser Angouleme, 1994 Oil on canvas, 55×31,5cm Collection S.M.A.K.: long-term loan of the Collection of the Flemish Community Photo credit: Dirk Pauwels © Family Raoul De Keyser | SABAM Belgium 2018
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Chris JohansonSep 16 – Oct 21, 2023In a special exhibition, Altman Siegel is pleased to present a monumental and historic work by Chris Johanson. Exhibited for the first time since 2000, this painted triptych, Untitled, offers a rare insight into Johanson’s early large-scale works. Known for his observant nature, Johanson was invited to participate in Glen Helfand’s 1999 exhibition, “Museum Pieces,” about the history of the de Young Museum. (more…)
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Jinjoon Lee: Audible GardenJul 21 – Oct 13, 2023This summer, the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE) and the Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) co-present Audible Garden, the solo exhibition of work by new media artist Jinjoon Lee as part of a yearlong celebration of the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and the UK. (more…)
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A Zona / Diogo SimõesPublicationA Zona is Diogo Simões’s first book. Twelve years in the making, it marks the arrival of a major force in Portuguese photography. All the photos were done in Margem Sul, Tagus river south bank, opposite Lisbon. (more…)
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METAmorphosis / OGR AwardMay 17, 2023Launched during the 2022 edition of Artissima, the METAmorphosis project is the second episode of Beyond Production – a conceptual platform born from the collaboration between Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT and Artissima, in dialogue with the OGR Award, with the aim of stimulating and promoting reflections on the most innovative trends in contemporary art. (more…)
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Gabriel Chaile: Principio de SemejanzaAug 29 – Oct 28, 2023Principio de Semejanza, Argentinean artist Gabriel Chaile’s first show in Brazil, takes place at Carpintaria and presents new sculptures built between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Manipulating mud and adobe, Chaile articulates the ritual dimensions of his materials in large-scale figurative constructions that weave together formal allusions to classical statuary – like Greek Cycladic sculpture – to indigenous craft (more…)
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Luigi Ghirri: A Foot in Eden and Other LooksApr 28, 2023 – Feb 25, 2024The exhibition offers a broad reflection on the natural element by bringing together three experiences that take place around the same time and in which photography, drawing and graphics act as privileged devices in relocating nature within our perceptive horizon in which often occupies a secondary, background role. (more…)
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Tom Hegen / Salt WorksLimited EditionThe archival pigment print inserted in Tom Hegen’s special edition Salt Works shows one of the many sea salt production sites the photographer portrayed from the air and captured in their unique beauty as an abstract field. (more…)
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Gina Osterloh: Mirror Shadow ShapeFeb 24 – Oct 8, 2023The Columbus Museum of Art is proud to present Mirror Shadow Shape, a solo exhibition by Filipino American artist Gina Osterloh (b. 1973, San Antonio, TX). Osterloh’s studio-based practice uses photography, film, performance, and drawing to examine the preconceived ways we understand ourselves and others. (more…)
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Desert Spirals / Sybren VanoverbergheSep 9 – Oct 10, 2023Keteleer Gallery is very pleased to present Desert Spirals, a solo exhibition by Sybren Vanoverberghe (°1996, Kortrijk, BE. Lives and works in Ghent and Otegem, BE.). Vanoverberghe’s second solo exhibition with the gallery consists of an entirely new series of photographic works in a scenographic intervention by Theo De Meyer. (more…)
