Luc Tuymans

Luc Tuymans
Tuymans in 2009
Born (1958-06-14) 14 June 1958 (age 66)
Mortsel, Belgium
NationalityBelgian
Education
Known for
Spouse
​
(after 1999)​
Awards
WebsiteOfficial website
Zeno X Gallery
David Zwirner Gallery

Luc Tuymans (born 14 June 1958) is a Belgian visual artist best known for his paintings which explore people's relationship with history and confront their ability to ignore it. World War II is a recurring theme in his work. He is a key figure of the generation of European figurative painters who gained renown at a time when many believed the medium had lost its relevance due to the new digital age.

Much of Tuymans' work deals with moral complexity, specifically the coexistence of 'good' and 'evil'.[1] His subjects range from major historical events such as the Holocaust to the seemingly inconsequential or banal: wallpaper, Christmas decorations or everyday objects for example.

The artist's sparsely-coloured figurative paintings are made up of quick brush strokes of wet paint. Tuymans paints from photographic or cinematic images drawn from the media or public sphere, as well as from his own photographs and drawings.[2][3] They often appear intentionally out of focus.[4][5][3] The blurred effect is, however, created purposefully with painted strokes, it is not the result of a 'wiping away' technique.[6]

Formal and conceptual oppositions recur in his work, which is echoed in his remark that while 'sickness should appear in the way the painting is made' there is also pleasure in its making – a 'caressing' of the canvas. This reflects Tuymans' semantic shaping of the philosophical content of his work.[7] Often allegorical, his titles add a further layer of imagery to his work – a layer that exists beyond the visible. The painting Gaskamer (Gas Chamber) exemplifies his use of titles to provoke associations in the mind of the viewer. Meaning, in his work, is never fixed; his paintings incite thought. A related characteristic of Tuymans' work is the way he often works in series, a method which enables one image to generate another through which images can be formulated and reformulated ad infinitum. Images are repeatedly analysed and distilled, and a large number of drawings, photocopies and watercolours are produced in preparation for his oil paintings.[8][9] Each final painting is, however, completed in a single day.[10]

  1. ^ Nina, Siegal (21 March 2019). "Luc Tuymans, Master of Moral Complexities, Tries Something New". The New York Times. New York. Archived from the original on 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Luc Tuymans: Forever, The Management of Magic" (PDF). New York: David Zwirner Gallery. 14 February – 22 March 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2014.
  3. ^ a b Roger, White (2016). The contemporaries travels in the 21st-century art world. Vol. 1. New York: Bloomsbury. p. 173. ISBN 9781620400951. OCLC 1124364481.
  4. ^ "Luc Tuymans: Corporate. 6 November – 21 December 2010". New York: David Zwirner Gallery.
  5. ^ "Luc Tuymans: Forever, The Management of Magic. 14 February – 22 March 2008" (PDF). New York: David Zwirner Gallery. 29 January 2008.
  6. ^ Harris, Gareth (9 September 2009). "Why paintings succeed where words fail". New York: The Art Newspaper.
  7. ^ Lindquist, Greg (May 2010). "Luc Tuymans". The Brooklyn Rail. Archived from the original on 22 February 2020.
  8. ^ "Exhibitions – The Rumour, 5 September — 13 October 2001". London: White Cube. 1 March 2020. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tate2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Mullins, Charlotte (2008). Painting People: Figure Painting Today. New York: D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers. p. 150. ISBN 9781933045832. OCLC 216938984.