Willy De Sauter

Belgian artist Willy De Sauter has been developing a consistent body of work since the 1960s, employing a fundamental visual language. While his early works were primarily constructed through the consistent repetition of line patterns, he has more recently focused on monochrome chalk paintings and objects.

The purpose of the exhibition at Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens is certainly not to provide a retrospective overview of the artist's oeuvre, but rather to follow some paths the artist explored to arrive at his most recent work.

The recent monochrome chalk works by Willy De Sauter continue his longstanding exploration of a fundamental approach to art. The simplicity and austerity of the work result from his unrelenting process of reduction to reach the essence. Nevertheless, these works also require an intensive and artisanal creative process, involving the artist. Despite their minimalist appearance, the chalk works can also be related to the Western painting tradition: the Flemish Primitives, for instance, used a mixture of chalk and glue as a ground layer for their wooden panels.

The variable dimensions and thicknesses of the panels, along with the choice to present the works sometimes horizontally and sometimes vertically, create a rhythmic interplay in space. Willy De Sauter always aims to rid the exhibition space of visual noise or pollution that distracts attention. In this way, an exhibition by Willy De Sauter becomes a serene space that, for some spectators, can even have a meditative quality.