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Bas
Louter's first american solo show, Octagon is comprised of a series of
large charcoal portraits on paper as well as an installation in which
the figures are mounted on three dimensional elements creating a prominent
and distinct tale.
Often, the protagonists drawn by Louter are physical depictions of power
and of a proud history. Yet, the pride represented has been forgotten
and disarranged, and is dissolving into absurd arrogance. As the identity
of each character isn't definitively put down, we remain questioning the
very essence of representation and recognition, fascinated by the recurrence
of such personalities through our History.
With Sergei, the proliferation of his signs of honor seems to have literally
stifled the man's expression. He is livid and out of place, quietly asphyxiating
under his medals.
Walther, on the other hand, wearing his oversized cap and his fixed grimace
projects confidence with undertones of confusion still detectable.
The journey that is Octagon conveys several passionate and sometimes ironic
statements, from the abstract to the figurative, from two to three dimensionality
and from historical narrative to spectacle.
Bas Louter was born in 1972 in Alkmaar, the Netherlands. He lives and
works in Amsterdam.
This exhibition was made possible in part by a grant from The
Netherlands Foundation For Visual Arts, Design and Architecture.
A book published for the Octagon exhibition at fette's gallery will be
released the same day.
In the project room, we invited numerous international artists to answer
the question whereas nationality still has an influence on identity. Using
the delicate and familiar medium that is paper, artists reacted to this
theme in an intimate and profound manner. |
