Axel Vervoordt Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of recent drawings by Michel Mouffe. Throughout his career, the Belgian artist’s work is renowned for balancing architectural construction from within the canvas to explore concepts of time, space-creation, being, and spirituality.

This exhibition features a series of drawings made over the last decade. It is the first time that they are being shown. Mouffe frequently uses drawings in his practice as an intellectual and metaphysical endeavour which often precede the act of a painting.

This particular selection refers to a series painted in two distinct segments of his artistic career, The Red Cavalry – dating back to the beginnings of Mouffe’s work - and the more recent Mountain series, both included in the 2017 Michel Mouffe monograph. 

His work is rooted in art history; The Red Cavalry is a direct reference to The Charge of the Red Cavalry (1928–1932) by Malevich. Revealing how the series was first conceived the artist states:

“I started painting these large works in the 1980s, and I’ve continued to work on the series until recently. They’re like “boundary stones” or reference points, which mark the development of how I approach the pictorial surface. […] Malevich’s oeuvre is also important with regard to my own approach to painting, for it claims the freedom that is necessary for the transition from pure abstraction to figuration, without involving self-denial.” 

Mountain series involved an important shift in the ways in which Mouffe executed colours and crafted surface. He describes the divergence in his practice as follows:

“The rust of the stretchers no longer marks the canvas. […] In these paintings, the execution of the pictorial surface is different. I set up a palette of grey shades, a mixture of transparent colours. Like a mist, I veil the surfaces and alter their usual translucency.” 

Through his delicate compositions, Mouffe creates moments that lull the viewer into a slowed down gaze of feelings and emotions.

His oeuvre reveals a masterful command of graphic and painterly touch that captures, holds, and often diverts attention. Lines of colour, geometric volumes softened by strokes of pigment might interrupt monochrome or almost monochrome images.  They represent the transition from interior to exterior, and therefore, from the act of touching to the act of looking. 

Born in 1957 in Brussels, Michel Mouffe grew up transported by art and discovered within himself a profound appreciation of proportion and the golden section, which applies to all his paintings. In search for ideal seasonal light year round, he lives between Belgium, France, and Spain and his work has been exhibited internationally.

The extensive monograph Michel Mouffe – Alphabet, edited by the curator Joel Benzakin and the artist himself, was published on the occasion of the Michel Mouffe exhibition held in 2017 at Axel Vervoordt Gallery in Belgium. This year, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels presented the artist’s solo exhibition, Thinking the Veil, from March 23 until September 9, 2018.
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阿塞尔维伍德画廊很高兴呈献米歇尔·墨菲(Michel Mouffe)个展，展出最近的彩绘作品。在墨菲的艺术生涯中，这位比利时艺术家的作品以画布内部的建筑结构而闻名，借以探索时间、空间创造、存在和灵性的概念。

这次展览展出了过去十年中的一系列绘画。这些作品均是第一次被展示。墨菲经常在他的实践中使用彩色素描作为一种知识和形而上学的努力尝试，是往往先于油画的基础。

展出的作品是墨菲两个截然不同的系列：「红骑兵」 - 可以追溯到Mouffe的作品开始； 以及最近的「山脉」系列，都包含在2017年出版的画册中。

他的作品植根于艺术史; 「红骑兵」直接参考马列维奇的红色骑兵（1928-1932）。他坦言这个系列最初是如何构思：“我在20世纪80年代开始画创作大型作品，直到最近我还在继续研究这个系列。 它们就像边界石头或参考点，标志着我如何接近图像表面的发展。 [...] 马列维奇的作品对于我的绘画方法也很重要，因为它阐明了从纯粹的抽像到形象的过渡，自由是必需的，同时并没有自我否定。”

「山脉」系列涉及到墨菲执行颜色和精心制作画面方式的重要转变。他描述了他在实践中的分歧如下：

“担架的锈迹不再标志着画布。 [...]在这些绘画中，绘画表面的执行是不同的。 我设置了一个灰色调的调色板，透明色的混合物。 像雾一样，我遮盖表面并改变他们平常的半透明度。”

通过精致的作品，墨菲让观众陷入缓慢的情感和凝视的时刻。

他的作品展现了一种精湛的图形和绘画触觉，捕捉、保持并经常转移注意力。被色彩线、颜料笔触软化了的几何体，或许影响了单色或几乎单色的图像。代表了从内部到外部的过渡，亦即从触摸行为到凝视行为。

米歇尔·墨菲于1957年出生于布鲁塞尔，他在艺术运动的氛围中长大，并在将自己对比例和黄金部分的深刻理解，应用于他的所有作品。为了寻求理想的全年季节性灯光，他住在比利时，法国和西班牙之间，他的作品参与了多个国际展览。

由策展人Joel Benzakin和艺术家本人编辑的画册〖Michel Mouffe-Alphabet〗于2017年在阿塞尔维伍德比利时画廊举办的“米歇尔·墨菲”于展览开幕式同时发布。今年，布鲁塞尔皇家美术博物馆于2018年3月23日至9月9墨菲的个展“Thinking the Veil”。