Simon Demeuter

Tamara Van San

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Inspired by a trip to Rome, Simon Demeuter uses his imagination to bring the beautiful mosaic floors with stunned images of gladiators in the old Roman villas back to life in a colourful way. In an earlier series shown this year at L21 in Palma de Mallorca, Demeuter depicted with soft fresh colours - and with beautiful imagery - the meeting and physical discovery of different people. Like fighting gladiators, Demeuter combatants feel each other out and a tension is built up between the depicted figures. The present series shown at Ballroom Gallery tells the continuation of this story. The colours become more intense, the intention of the figures turns clearer and the confrontation between the gladiators comes to a head. Powerful colours, simple but energetic poses, a (violent) climax and then a farewell and soft slips into solitude. Through his gladiators, Simon Demeuter portrays a metamorphosis of life, with a story of hope, excitement, love, loneliness and sensitivity. 

For Van San, all existing forms are three-dimensional, which means that she only constructs sculptures. Sculptures that consciously abandon the traditional ceramic technique. Forms that construct themselves and allow themselves to be translated into colourful glazes. The sculptures in the series shown by Van San in Ballroom Gallery refer to large amphorae that might have been found on the seabed during one of her diving trips in the Middle East. Old vases and jars that have been taken over by algae and corals and have acquired an enormous splendour of shapes and colours on top of their classical forms. By doing so, Van San offers the viewer a wide space to unleash their own imagination on the images. In this exhibition, the artists works are also presented in a less conventional way, giving them something unreal and allowing a very contemporary character. 

The duo exhibition of Simon Demeuter and Tamara Van San is inspired by influences of ancient civilisations, but at the same time brings them back to life in a very colourful way. In addition, the works of both artists are vivid symbols for life, in which each stage - physical or emotional - undergoes a miraculous evolution.