Dialoog: Pieter Vermeersch

In the context of the exhibition Over de grens (Across the Border), Pieter Vermeersch was invited as part of the Dialogues series. His work, which explicitly explores the boundaries of the pictorial process, fits perfectly with an exhibition that considers the boundary between painting and other disciplines as one of its main starting points.

For MDD, Vermeersch creates three works that essentially represent the three poles within which he operates. He paints a gradient, a slowly intensifying color field, along the inside and outside of a wall of the museum (0-100% black, 2004). This technique from landscape painting is independent, but by the connection and interaction between inside and outside, he also distinctly integrates it into the landscape. Moreover, the work, due to its subtle color composition, offers a stimulating viewing experience that is frustrated by the fact that it can never be seen in its entirety.

Average color n°3 (MDD) is a work that determines the average color value of MDD’s collection. It challenges the autonomy of the individual artwork, questions it in relation to the group to which it belongs, and approaches any figurative content in such a technical way that it is erased. The end result appears seemingly objective, but due to the various color nuances, it is also highly layered and ultimately as suggestive as its starting point. For Vermeersch, this work is also a way to bring the old collection into the exhibition. Through the way he approaches the works from the old collection, there is a literal blurring of boundaries between old and new.