all-around-luna

I went to see this Yves Klein exhibition at the Bozar museum in Brussels/Belgium.

In 2007, I was on holiday in Paris. I was busy visiting the Beaubourg museum (Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou) when my mobile phone rang. Bad news. Very bad news... I collapsed... Then I pulled myself back together and kept walking in the museum. In truth I was lost, spaced out. When suddenly, I came across this painting:

I had never seen a painting by Yves Klein before and I sat in front of it for a long moment. It's hard to explain what this painting did to me. It was captivating, irridiating with color pouring on me. I found it very soothing. It felt like a safe heaven in a demented sea. It made such a big impression in such dramatic times...

So here I was, ten years later, revisiting Klein's artworks and videos. And it felt like the loop was looped.

And indeed, in the space of these ten years, a lot of things changed. I became an artist too. I started to take pictures, to paint and to craft articles.

Revisiting Klein through this exhibition told me how much of an influence he had been on me and how I feel related to his artistic approach.

Here's what is striking my mind in a few words:

INTENSITY - Klein worked on his pigments to boost the color in it. He had a special polymer added to sustain the tones. The colors are there to keep you hypnotized.

CHANCE - At some stage, Klein "stopped painting". He relied on odd techniques to get there. For example, naked women soaking in paint and brushing themselves against the canvas. Some may say it was random. I think he let his imagination run free.

 EPHEMERAL - He started to paint with fire and also crafted fire installations. Ode to the flame, powerful and elusive. Klein had a tragic destiny and died in his thirties of a heart attack. I believe his art is somehow transcending the brevity of his life.

OUTER SPACE - Some of his artwork look like craters or planet surfaces. Klein claimed he was "the sky". He went beyond into the outer space...

THE ELEMENTS - North, East, South, West. It mattered to him to evoke the elements in his art.

Some things matter more than others. Go and see this exhibition if you can, it's still on until end of August.

I own no right on any picture displayed in this article.

 © 2017