Bert de Beul was born in Gent in 1961 and lives and works currently in Antwerp. His canvases show still-lifes, landscapes, city views and persons. For their representation the artist doesn’t choose particularly picturesque frames or theatrical effects. By sketching his impressions, Bert de Beul chooses exclusively details and fragments, strong chiaroscuro and vague outlines. The perspective’s subjectivity becomes accentuated thanks to the spatial closeness in which the artist depicts his environment. Simultaneously he evokes the ephemeral fainting of an unreachable veil. The purpose of the artist consist of puzzling the oberservers by representing these fragments of reality that recall forgotten memories.
Bert de Beul’s starting point is his nearby environment, as well as preexisting documents such as newspapers, wrapping materials, self-made drawings, or photographs. In his canvases he always places the chance as main focus: a closed door, the wall of a bedroom in which a plant’s shadow is outlined or a book that is lying on a table, amongst others.
Like this, de Beul confronts the observers to reality details which normally get lost in the course of our selective memories. However, these impressions – peripheral and transient – are exactly the ones that evoke in everyone of us chain reactions. This aspect is related to Freudian theories by which the sudden inrush of the irrational unconscious in our daily routine is perceived as a disturbing experience. In this way it takes place an interaction among an uncertain closeness experienced by the observer – through his memories avoiding just a moment the unconsciousness repression – and the insurmontable distance in which the artist captures his world on the canvas. This situation as a whole is what makes Bert de Beul be considered a versatile and touching artist.
