MOCKUMENTARIES

THOMAS BEHLING . FRANS VAN TARTWIJK . MARIA DE VET .
22 JANUARY  – 26 FEBRUARY 2023

The film Einstein’s Brain (Kevin Hull, 1994) is the starting point for the exhibition. The film is about a professor travelling to the USA to find the brain of Albert Einstein. Einstein’s brain was removed from his body after his death. The whereabouts of the brain are unknown. The film claims to be a documentary, but the credibility of the story is questioned by many. Just like in this documentary the three artists in the exhibition enjoy creating a seductive illusion that is almost immediately debunked.

Mockumentaries, a group exhibition by Thomas Behling, Frans van Tartwijk amd Maria de Vet.

In Behling’s work there are many references to German romantic painting. He seems to enjoy combining classical imagery with makeshift technology.
His illusionary images play around with the viewers perception: it is hard to figure out what you are really looking at. It is not just about manipulating the viewer, but also about mocking what is generally accepted as true, important, or impressive.

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The starting point of Frans van Tartwijk are mostly contemporary images: photo’s he made of an interesting building or street scene, or images found on the internet. During the process of drawing, painting and repainting the images are transformed, parts are erased, details are added, so that in the end a somewhat unreal image emerges, but the line connecting the image to an existing building or landscape is never completely severed.

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Maria de Vet became fascinated by seeing Velasquez’s “Las Meninas” in the Prado in Madrid and by Goya’s “Las Caprichos”. She finds her inspiration in the old masters and the mass media of today: internet, magazines, photos. But also in her dreams. People and animals are usually central to Maria’s work and in particular women. Animals appear in her paintings because they enliven the image. Every time it is a struggle with color, shape and image, but the love for painting wins. And as Balinese painter Gusti Nyoman Lempad said: “Bare my paintings to the world so that all can see their beauty as well as their shortcomings.”

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The exhibition is made possible by Stichting Cultuur Eindhoven.