The work of
Kees de Goede (1954) never held a particular interest for me until I came
across his exhibition in De Pont Museum. Kees de Goede is a Dutch artist who transforms
his encounters with and his astonishment of the world around him into abstract paintings.
Nature is an important source of inspiration for De Goede, so much so that he
even integrates parts of it in his work. Examples of this are his canvasses
stretched over a support of branches, which at several places almost appear to
pierce through the linen. This method adds an illusory kind of movement to the
artwork, as if a being tries to come out from the other side of the painting. Some
of these works actually have a hole in the center, which contradicts the impression
by reveiling there is nothing behind the linen.
Another
group of paintings in the exhibition are the round canvasses. Throughout history the circle was considered to be a perfect form, because it was believed to be the form of earth shaped by God. In 15th century Italy this form (tondo) became popular in art. De Goede's use of this form refers to this practice. There are multiple paintings where bright colors appear to emanate from the center, drawing you in
with a certain speed. They seem to take you to a different dimension, not yet
visible. Although the opposite could be argued as well, instead of the inward
movement these artworks could also suggest explosions, maybe even the idea of expanding
matter during a big bang.
More round
canvasses have been worked upon with burning candles, creating black spots on a colored surface. Remaining
in a space theme they resemble our understanding of the universe with suns, planets
and black holes.
The last
group of works in the exhibition are De Goede’s adapted newspaper pages. They
confront the spectator with the real world around us. Papers represent current
topics, happenings occurring every day. De Goede seems to engage these events
in a discussion by painting on the pages. He relatesthem to historical events (WWII, by drawing
Swastika’s all over a page), to consumerism (cars, women’s heels etc.), but also
to music and other artists. With this last category De Goede creates and
interesting dynamic with other works in the museum, for he refers to Marlene
Dumas’s and to Anton
Henning’s signature curls for instance. Both artists are also represented in
the collection of De Pont.
The circular paintings already seems to evoke globes, but their
renderings enhance the idea of different realities. De Goede appears to invite
his audience to step into new worlds and examine them, while at the same time
and maybe even in this way stimulating a critical attitude to the world around
us.
Kees de Goede Perpétuel
10 oktober t/m 31 januari 2016
De Pont Museum
Wilhelminapark 1
5041 EA Tilburg www.depont.nl