Walter Swennen

Swennen's main medium is by using "objets trouvee", or found objects, to produce works that borrow iconography or become almost 3D due to his use of thick grained paint that he mixes himself. What is apparent is that Swennen makes his work personal by divesting much of his time recycling objects or substances to become something new. What Swennen does is make old useless objects functional again.

 As I discussed in the video above, the use of bold primary colours and cartoon-like style within this piece connote a childish and naive aesthetic, that draws the viewer in by appealing to their inner child. I did find that this type of piece that Swennen produced mirrors the basic techniques of Pop Art; recognisable but grossly coloured shapes, thick dark lines and of course a simiplicity that keeps the viewer interested. I noticed that the majority of those who were in the exhibition smiled when they saw this style of piece, showing how approachable the Pop Art style is.

One theme that reoccurs in Swennen's work is the use of text and image, particularly in the extremely pastel-coloured works such as this piece above. The thick paint is used to create a loose texture, giving up a narrative to become a formal painting. There is something quite sobering due to the quiet pale paint neighbouring the flamboyant pieces from before. This particular piece is an example of "archeological" art; where the dust, coffee etc is mixed in with the paint to give it a thick grainy texture that builds up with the layers. Not only that but the use of a found object to paint on also gives 

As you can see, the use of language in the painting adds to the connotation of layers, with some letters appearing to be covered up or "white washed". However what you can see seem to be painted in reverse, lending a childish quality to this otherwise quite mature painting. It looks like the words covered up are made up, gobbledegook basically. It reminded me of young children making up a language to confuse their parents, which made me grin quite abit. Overall there was something incredibly "likeable" with Swennen's work, whichever level you decided to view it on.

Something that impressed me was the curators passion for this exhibition; the juxtaposition of the pale and the coloured mixed together made the gallery space look cluttered in a homely way, it wasn't too intense but the overall effect was still attractive. Also the curator herself was able to answer any questions we had about the work or Swennen himself, something I haven't ever felt able to do in a gallery before.