Jack Bell Gallery – Stijn Bastianen: Everybody is Late for Therapy

Press Preview: Wednesday, April 13th: 11am-1pm

Jack Bell Gallery is pleased to present a solo show of paintings by Stijn Bastianen. This will be the artist’s first exhibition in the UK.

‘The story’ is difficult to fathom rationally. It often arises from chance or by unknowingly bringing together images and signs. ‘The world is a theatre’: the set pieces slide over each other until the content reluctantly reveals itself. This content can vary from humour to sarcasm, from irony to poetry, with a hint of social criticism on top. Stijn Bastianen likes to repaint: the pictorial richness underlines the complexity of ‘the story’.

 How do we rhyme things together? Of course there is a cartoon approach. Besides, concepts such as ‘deformation’ and ‘expression’ remain closely linked. Stijn Bastianen understands like no other the dilemma between spontaneity and control. In this process, individual images are clearly identified and technically skilled. The end result is therefore a fascinating, interpretable world, which we must experience with astonishment. Because don’t we seem to be wandering around in a contemporary ‘Praise of Foolishness’?

– Stijn Bastianen