The idiosyncratic oeuvre of Belgian artist Walter Swennen (1946) is deeply rooted in language. From a very young age, he develops a strong sensitivity for spoken and written word. Driven by necessity, as when he was five years old, his parents decide to suddenly break with their Flemish past and switch to French. This marks the beginning of a lifelong investigation into how (visual) language transmits meanings – or conversely, obscures them.
Swennen’s paintings, often a mix of light absurdity and philosophical playfulness, are always a variation on this theme, but differ greatly in style. This is the result of the associative method he employs, which aligns his work with free jazz: he paints without a fixed direction or end goal. “My only aim is to finish the painting,” he says. “You start, and you react to what is there. People who write about painting forget that painting is usually nothing more than an agreement between the painter and the painting.”
www.ftn-books.com has several Swennen publications now available.
