ADELHEID DE WITTE | OVK MAGAZINE BELGIUM | ARTICLE

Ine Engels, OKV Magazine Belgium, August 1, 2021

Adelheid De Witte at Barbé Urbain Gallery

There Are Fireworks At 11 pm is the title of the first solo exhibition by Ghent artist Adelheid De Witte. Fireworks are known as the festive ignition of explosive substances that produce light, smoke and explosions, and it is an appropriate term to characterize the exhibition. When the viewer stands in front of De Witte's work, something remarkable happens: colors vibrate, lines move, the work of art brims with energy. 11pm is quite late to visit the gallery. Fortunately, fireworks still resonate for quite some time after ignition. De Witte's lively work can also be admired during the day in the Barbé Urbain Gallery in Ghent.

 

After her studies in moral sciences, Adelheid De Witte decided to rent a studio in Barcelona. For 5 years she mainly worked on installations that became increasingly abstract over time. She draws inspiration from her childhood, eastern cultures and the streets of Barcelona. This is how the viewer recognizes different objects in her work; a lost ticket, a broken umbrella, a rainbow-colored raft. Those physical things contrast with their dreamy backdrop. Sometimes even no shapes can be distinguished. Pastel and neon, light and shadow, straight and curved lines merge into cloud-like structures.

 

LAYER UPON LAYER

The artist's working method is one in which slowness is central. On average, it takes three years to complete a work of art. De Witte uses different materials such as wax, chalk, charcoal and paint to build up her work layer upon layer. Some layers are light and transparent, others are dark and opaque. Layers can also be scratched or rubbed open. Patience is a virtue for the artist who mainly wants to create depth. 'Look To The Left' is a glass and metal artwork located in the second, smaller room of the gallery. The left panel is painted with a glossy, dark blue layer, reflecting the viewer. The right side of the work consists of several matte layers of blue, gray and white that flow into each other. The artwork tilts slightly backwards, making our body seem to elongate. The more we move to the right, the more our reflection blurs and merges into the gray landscape.

 

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ROMANTICISM AND SURREALISM

In different formats - rectangular, round, polygonal - and with different media - canvas, textile, glass and metal - De Witte constructs dreamy and stormy landscapes that are reminiscent of romantic painters such as William Turner. Something strange seems to be happening in the powerful natural landscapes, something that does not quite belong there. Neon colors in the shape of a triangle in 'I'll Be Right There' or in the shape of a round frame in 'Meet me after sunset' break with the classic romantic tradition. Also in the smaller work 'Not yet' a bright orange line runs horizontally through the mixture of pastel colours. It is these daring interventions that cause fireworks at the exhibition.

 

We read images as a vessel full of connotations and meanings. When we stand in front of the work at 'There Are Fireworks At 11 pm', we make associations with surrealism, romanticism, contemporary art and we recognize objects, landscapes and dreams. Yet we are faced with a challenge. Not only working with different methods, media and formats, but also the presence of both transparent and opaque layers make it difficult to read the artworks. There is so much to see that we no longer know what we see. De Witte fully opts for inscrutability. 

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