Erik Pevernagie: Intro.Willem Elias - Sabine Pevernagie

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• published: 26 Jan 2014
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http://www.pevernagie.com/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Pevernagie; https://www.facebook.com/pages/Erik-Pevernagie/73320708795; The main core of the work of Erik Pevernagie is not the reality but the manner how he represents the reality. The great richness of this period , which is essential for the manner the artists have dared to make the daily reality more interesting than just copy it, (which has been been done during so many centuries), will still be valued in 500 centuries. Even the idea of wanting to be expressive per se, like the African expression, is not central for this period. Art means to be engaged with the world. The artists, even the most surrealistic and fictional, always deal with reality and see to it that this reality is conveyed in an abstracting way. When reading the titles of the works of Erik Pevernagie, one can get an idea where he wants to lead us. He gives us a fair connection that becomes interesting when we get to know the deduction of that connection. Interesting is to see how he is able to abstract his topics. It's interesting to read the literature of Erik Pevernagie and I have read it thoroughly. But of course, it is not the thematic body in itself which is imperative, but what he has done with it. Not the story in itself is our main concern, but how he has developed it. Apart from the fact that he abstracts life, he is also an artist who tackles "matter". He creates painting that doesn't invite you to caress , as he even uses metal filings. This might be a sign of his way of looking at society, his perception of the alienation, his feeling of a world that is often to be met with caution. People living under the terror of banks for instance. People watching each other like fish behind glass of an aquarium . It's very thrilling to see how he develops all those themes which are concentrated in his work. We have got his psychological approach in his work with themes like love and anxiety and his sociological approach: what do the others mean for us, what kind of society are we making and what are we destroying. His painting is based on three philosophical tendencies. We have had the same tutor at the university: Lepold Flam. He gave us an underpinning of these philosophical movements. In Erik's critical approach of society, we find the Freudian component: knowing that each knowledge is in fact absence of knowledge, that the "ego"and "cogito ergo sum" is just infatuation. Erik Pevernagie is a phenomenological painter : saying ' I am interested in the" world", the"world" is outside ,"I had much experience and through that experience I want the "world" to come in me, living is an exchange of each other's horizon, a merger of each other's subjectivity. Life is a phenomenological experience. "Deconstruction" is an other feature in his painting. He takes out pieces of the puzzle. "Figuration" is obsolete and belongs to the past. "Abstraction" has a danger of being too ornamental. So he conbines the two sides : figuration and abstraction. As a third philosophical cornerstone for his painting we have Wittgenstein. When the philosopher says:." Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent. " Erik Pevernagie replies: "Whereoff I can't speak, thereof I must paint". This is completely in the spirit of Wittgenstein who would have approved this. Only logical thoughts can be discussed. You can make some formulas." Ethics and esthaetics are one" is another of his thoughts. You cannot talk about those things in a logical way. But they are showable. In this respect there is a perfect accordance between Wittgenstein's idea and Erik's reflection " I can't speak about it, but I can paint it" I would like to give Erik as a present a copy of my book "Signs of the Time" which could be an inspiration for his further work.