Laurent Dierckx works on several canvases at the same time ; sometimes a dozen. They are placed on the floor, separated into two groups that touch each other on one side, like the pages of a huge picture album. He stubbornly leafed through them, tirelessly, for months.
He begins by spreading a thick base layer, a white that has been kneaded for a long time and enriched with a thousand shades, sometimes bluish, sometimes greenish or pink. It’s the sky, the atmosphere, the horizon, unlimited space. Then, in the lower part of the painting, a stratified band that represents the earth appears, a microcosm made up of an innumerable succession of parallel lines, an accumulation of superimposed layers.
It is a world rich in microscopic detail, extremely complex, a world created with wisdom that is at the same time grandiose and infinitely small in the middle of the universe. Then come the man, the woman, the home, the religion, all archetypes that are part of the artist’s personal mythology. Their presence and, above all, their proportional relations sometimes express man’s domination of nature or, on the contrary, his powerlessness in the face of an infinite and mysterious universe.
Often, this powerlessness is explicitly represented by the presence of an anonymous (faceless) puppeteer who controls the fate of humans. Death, sex and violence emerge from a delicate, sometimes raging organic world.
The result is a singular work of dense matter, made up of multiple repentances, as if an existence were added to an existence. Constantly evolving, it is subject to changes in daily emotions. Sometimes, the overload is such that he decides to turn his canvas, to start over the same subject, rich from the previous experience.
Laurent’s work stands out from the current art scene, where most of the actors limit themselves to urban art, often made in the instantaneous and ephemeral.
Laurent’s work stands out from the current art scene, where most of the actors limit themselves to urban art, often made in the instantaneous and ephemeral.
Félix Hannaert & Christos Vouyiouklis
Laurent Dierckx is represented by Galerie Jos Depypere
Laurent Dierckx studied painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels (2000) and at the Academy of Watermael-Boitsfort (2002). Laurent was enrolled in a Printmaking program at La Cambre (2000-2001), the Academy of Uccle and Libramont.
An empty canvas. A base coat. Shapes and lines. Blank spaces. Balanced movements. Dense materials. Emotional changes. Discontent. Start again or overturn? A wind of change. Rhythmic repetition. Experience. Popping colors. Textures are formed. Contrasts. A splash of pink, blue, green. Harmony, a personal mythology.
Paint spatters on the concrete floors and walls of the studio. Cold hardy tropical plants in every corner of the room. A 19th Century French aviary with chirping birds. A warm Jazz saxophone sound on the background. Unfinished artworks placed against the walls becoming one with the studio’s atmosphere. Tranquillity.
Jos Depypere
1989-1995: Classical Humanities – Athénée Robert Catteau, Brussel
2000: Licentiate (paint shop 4 years) – Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Brussel
Engraving course – Académie de Libramont
Engraving course – Academy of Uccle
2000-2001: Studio, Atelier de Gravure – La Cambre, Brussel
Certificate of Upper Secondary Art Education (Painting and Art History) – Academy of Drawing of Watermael-Boitsfort
Certificate of Higher Art Education (evening classes: 8 years, painting studio 8 years, engraving workshop) – Academy of Watermael-Boitsfort
2023
Solo exhibition – Galerie Jos Depypere (pop-up gallery), Gent
2022
Pop-up gallery – Galerie Jos Depypere, Oostende
2021
Catalogue release exhibition – Galerie Jos Depypere, Knokke
2020
Pop up gallery – Galerie Jos Depypere, Knokke
2019
Art Up! Art Fair – Galerie Jos Depypere, Lille (FR)
2018
Art Up! Art Fair – Galerie Jos Depypere, Lille (FR)
Prijs van het Landschap – Kuurne
2017
‘Hollywood Ananas’, solo exhibition – Galerie Antonio Nardone, Brussel
Art Up! Art Fair – Galerie Jos Depypere, Lille (FR)
2016
Art Up! Art Fair – Galerie Jos Depypere, Lille (FR)
‘Peinture Récente’, solo exhibition – Galerie Antonio Nardone, Brussel
2015
Art Up! Art Fair – Galerie Jos Depypere, Lille (FR)
‘Recent painting 4’, solo exhibition – Galerie Antonio Nardone, Brussel
‘Hollywood Pineapple’, solo exhibition – Galerie Antonio Nardone, Brussel
2013
‘Recent painting 3’, solo exhibition – Galerie Antonio Nardone, Brussel
Foire Off – Nardone Gallery, Tour & Taxis, Brussel
Group exhibition – Galerie Jos Depypere, Kuurne
2012
Solo exhibition – Galerie Antonio Nardone, Brussel
LinéArt Fair – Jos Depypere Gallery, Gent
‘Recent painting 2’, solo exhibition – Galerie Antonio Nardone, Brussel
2011
Lille Art Fair – Galerie Jos Depypere, Lille (FR)
2010
‘Recent painting 1’, solo exhibition – Galerie Antonio Nardone, Brussel
2008
Engraving, group exhibition – XXL Gallery, Brussel
2006
Winner of the Prix Ransy – La Louvière
Winner of the Prix d’Antoing – Antoing
2005
Selected for the Prix du Hainaut – Tournai
Winner of the Prix Découverte – Red Cloister, Brussel
2002
Selected for the Prix de la Gravure La Louvière
1st prize in the engraving competition of the municipality of Watermael-Boitsfort
2001
Laureate of the René Depas Competition – Cabinet des Estampes, Liège
Substitute: Professor of painting – Academy of Fine Arts, Ixelles
1999
Mentioned in the engraving competition, Marchin
1998
Group exhibition – Dexia Banque, Passage 44, Brussels
