Art Rotterdam 2017

The three artists have in common that they merge reality with a theatrical, stage-like setting in which they can act out their personal experiences and more general tendencies in present day society.

Andrea Freckmann (1972) often depicts herself dressed up in costume on a stage-like environment. In her most recent paintings she has picked up the theme of the puppet theatre as a metaphor for reality. Andrea Freckmann paints in a direct and bold brushstroke, with which she accurately depicts the figures and objects in the scenes. She has a preference for ornament and decoration which is displayed in the motives in the wallpaper and tableware or the lush plants that adorn her interiors.

Sebastian Schlicher (1975) draws ecstatic pop musicians, religious fanatics, survivalists or politicians who use their subculture to overcome the insignificance of their existance. The larger-than-life personality is a favourite metaphor in his work. His drawing are developed  in a highly associative manner. Several layers are put on top of eachother resulting in an image that hovers on the brink of chaos. Texts and words play an important role, they seem to give clues as to the meaning of the image but also generate new questions. Schlichers’s video Earthworm Jim is also shown at the stand.

In Dirk Zoete’s (Gent 1969) drawings harlequin like figures are put on a stage where they themselves perform or train animals in an act that is both grotesque and touching. In his work the tradition of Belgian surrealism and the carnivalesque and theatrical is strongly present. Dirk Zoete also makes three dimensional works, the harlequin from the drawings evaluates into a scarecrow-like figure with a mask, that steps out into space. A distant cousin of Oskar Schlemmer and Kazimir Malevic’s modernist and suprematist figures.