This is the subtitle for the Piet Dirkx/ Henk Visch exhibition at the gallery Ferdinand van Dieten-d’Eendt in 2008. A small gallery and now stopped, because of the changing art market, but this exhibition was a great one for this small gallery. The invitation is still one of the best Piet designed for one of his exhibitions.
I do not know what to say. Is Henk Visch the dutch equivalent of Jean Bilquin or is it the other way around? Certain is that both artists are inspired by the same objects and surroundings.
Another influence must have been the sculptures by Brancusi because a returning object is the portrait sculpture Brancusi has made in several versions.
But there is much more to discover in the works by Jean Bilquin. When you leaf through the catalogue which was published on the occasion of the Kunsthal exhibition ( 2008 ). You really feel that you are discovering an artist. An artist who is inspired by nature and people. Both subjects combining in a very personal kind of art on larger sized canvasses. This is the kind of work which always attracts me and which i want to discover further after i have visited the exhibition. The catalogue ( available at www.ftn-boooks.com) shows exactly why these works have a rare quality. The catalogue has several fold out pages which make the scale of these large paintings somewhat visible.
