Events
JEREMY DEMESTER
28 JULY – 26 AUGUST 2018
Jeremy Demester explores the nature of art and its relation with the founding myths of our world: symbolism, energies, alchemy, fate as well as sacred representations. His paintings and sculptures can never be taken at surface value as they are always layered with diverse, and sometimes cryptic, meaning. Demester's work often is the result of collaborations (with craftsmen, children, scientists, philosophers and friends, who form what he names La Demestria), and thus opens itself to the world.
For the exhibition hall in Weidingen, Demester presents an altar of an imposing scale that combines several techniques dear to the artist. When closed, the altar alludes to the artist's series Vins d'Anjou, a group of work that deals with the reproduction of the colour of blood before its oxidation. Running through our veins, blood can change from bluish to yellowish, sometimes nearly translucent, nuances. Only when in contact with air it turns into the deep red that became its main attribute. The metallic outer surface of Demester's altar diffuses colour as opposed to canvases that tend to absorb it. The inside of the altar is covered by vivid brushstrokes of bright yellow, orange and red paint. Reminding of flickering flames that surround the architectural form in the centre of the work, the triptych introduces a visual narrative that often derives from Demester's personal memories.
In reference to his nomadic roots, Demester describes himself a 'gypsy painter', a quest for identity underpins his work. As the descendant of a wandering ancestry, Demester is influenced by a wide variety of cultures and traditions. It is also an inherited Wanderlust that drew the artist to Africa in 2015, where he was invited for a residency at the Zinsou Foundation in Benin. During the residency in Cotonou, he discovered an alternate way of connecting to the world, through the power of magic, rituals and dances inspired by a keen observance and insightful knowledge of nature as well as of the spiritual world. He eventually returned to Benin in 2018 where he completed several new works that will also be on view for the first time.
Jeremy Demester, photo: Holger Niehaus