LEVITATE

Bildhalle Zürich: CASPER FAASSEN – LEVITATE

Vom 30. September bis zum 20. November 2021.

Casper Faassens Arbeiten zu betrachten, ist wie ein Blick durch den Nebel der Zeit. Der Künstler mit einem Atelier in Leiden – dem Geburtsort von Rembrandt – lässt sich von der klassischen Malerei inspirieren, die er als Kind in den Niederlanden kennengelernt hat. Er nähert sich dem Vanitas-Genre der Stilllebenmalerei aus einer neuen Perspektive und hat durch die Kombination von Fotografie, Malerei und dem Auftragen von "Craquelé" eine einzigartige Bildsprache entwickelt.

“Here we are, caught in the middle. Falling, soaring or floating. I see now that most of my recent works depict that moment where gravity seems lost and we don’t clearly see where we are or where we are going. We levitate. The juxtaposition between the eternal and the temporal, beauty and decay, appearing and disappearing is my main theme. All painters and photographers have the ability to freeze time and capture a single moment. I emphasize that moment by adding an element of time – not necessarily by using literal vanitas references but through the handling of materials. I do that through the use of an oil paint craquelure layer, contrasting the blurry image. Most of the distance is created by the way the picture is taken, through a matte medium. I print the image on to that same matte medium giving a further sense of distance. The layered image refers more to painting than photography and gives the viewer a sense of ease looking at it. We are not in the same place, the subject is unaware of our presence.”

Casper Faassen