
Windowbox # 2 SKIN – Kaat Van Doren & Claire de Jong
2 February – 23 April 2017
SKIN takes as its point of departure the artistic exploration of materials that have different
capacities for catching the light. Light is thus the necessary immaterial component. In the second
‘windowbox,’ Dutch–South African sculptor Claire de Jong accepts the invitation to enter into
visual dialogue with Mechelen artist Kaat Van Doren. They find each other in their vision of the
‘image,’ in which light plays a generative role and at the same time becomes the subject of
experiment. In their work, light unapologetically evokes ‘purity’ and ‘wonder,’ and yet takes on
the hidden essence of a fragile and transient world. Both artists accomplish this in series and
variations. Their respective oeuvres rely on a modernity that does not shy away from the
sensory.
In the exhibition SKIN – visible from the street – Claire de Jong’s white gesso sculptures and Kaat
Van Doren’s monumental linocuts capture the changing light and shadows of the day. Claire de
Jong’s fragile, upright bodies – deliberately unsteady and uncertain on their pedestals – are full
of white angles, edges and curves. Sanded to such a degree that they acquire a voluptuous skin,
veined with mirrors in search of light. Body and image: bold and uncertain, vulnerable and
wounded, her animistic sculptures seek – as in a ritual – the healing light in order to share it
with the other works and with the viewer.
The delicate power of these timeless, totemic variations contrasts with Kaat Van Doren’s
exploration of the temporary. How to translate the (un)predictability of the momentary and
transient into material form? She is equally fascinated with differences in the capture and
reflection of light, to the point of darkness even. White on white, black on white . . . black on
black . . . The (un)predictable result of other angles of incidence on the sheerest of surfaces, on
the blackest of blacks, on the texture of paper or linocut relief fascinates. As does the cadence of
her long accordion sculpture in which the linocut image rhythmically appears and disappears.
The eternal dimension in Claire de Jong’s sculptures and the ephemeral in Kaat Van Doren’s
linocuts keep one another in balance. Paradoxically, the underlying fragility of the sculptures
stands out, and the linocuts thereby reveal their hidden eternal darkness. Both artists reveal,
literally and figuratively, the tension between light and darkness. Because light caresses surfaces
into skin. Without it there is NOTHING.
Windowbox # 2 SKIN – Kaat Van Doren & Claire de Jong
2 February - 23 April 2017
DURING CONTOUR BIENNALE OPEN OP ZONDAG 14.00u-18.00u
Studio Kaat Van Doren, Guldenstraat 17 2800 Mechelen (opposite parking Lamot) – Belgium
Vernissage Thursday 2 February 18:00 – 21:00 // Finissage Sunday 23 April 14:00 – 18:00
. Curated & text by : Frank Herman
. The exhibition is visible from the street
. Studio visits by appointment only: kaatvandoren@skynet.be - +32 - 479 33.98.39
. www.kaatvandoren.com
. www.clairedejong.be
2 February – 23 April 2017
SKIN takes as its point of departure the artistic exploration of materials that have different
capacities for catching the light. Light is thus the necessary immaterial component. In the second
‘windowbox,’ Dutch–South African sculptor Claire de Jong accepts the invitation to enter into
visual dialogue with Mechelen artist Kaat Van Doren. They find each other in their vision of the
‘image,’ in which light plays a generative role and at the same time becomes the subject of
experiment. In their work, light unapologetically evokes ‘purity’ and ‘wonder,’ and yet takes on
the hidden essence of a fragile and transient world. Both artists accomplish this in series and
variations. Their respective oeuvres rely on a modernity that does not shy away from the
sensory.
In the exhibition SKIN – visible from the street – Claire de Jong’s white gesso sculptures and Kaat
Van Doren’s monumental linocuts capture the changing light and shadows of the day. Claire de
Jong’s fragile, upright bodies – deliberately unsteady and uncertain on their pedestals – are full
of white angles, edges and curves. Sanded to such a degree that they acquire a voluptuous skin,
veined with mirrors in search of light. Body and image: bold and uncertain, vulnerable and
wounded, her animistic sculptures seek – as in a ritual – the healing light in order to share it
with the other works and with the viewer.
The delicate power of these timeless, totemic variations contrasts with Kaat Van Doren’s
exploration of the temporary. How to translate the (un)predictability of the momentary and
transient into material form? She is equally fascinated with differences in the capture and
reflection of light, to the point of darkness even. White on white, black on white . . . black on
black . . . The (un)predictable result of other angles of incidence on the sheerest of surfaces, on
the blackest of blacks, on the texture of paper or linocut relief fascinates. As does the cadence of
her long accordion sculpture in which the linocut image rhythmically appears and disappears.
The eternal dimension in Claire de Jong’s sculptures and the ephemeral in Kaat Van Doren’s
linocuts keep one another in balance. Paradoxically, the underlying fragility of the sculptures
stands out, and the linocuts thereby reveal their hidden eternal darkness. Both artists reveal,
literally and figuratively, the tension between light and darkness. Because light caresses surfaces
into skin. Without it there is NOTHING.
Windowbox # 2 SKIN – Kaat Van Doren & Claire de Jong
2 February - 23 April 2017
DURING CONTOUR BIENNALE OPEN OP ZONDAG 14.00u-18.00u
Studio Kaat Van Doren, Guldenstraat 17 2800 Mechelen (opposite parking Lamot) – Belgium
Vernissage Thursday 2 February 18:00 – 21:00 // Finissage Sunday 23 April 14:00 – 18:00
. Curated & text by : Frank Herman
. The exhibition is visible from the street
. Studio visits by appointment only: kaatvandoren@skynet.be - +32 - 479 33.98.39
. www.kaatvandoren.com
. www.clairedejong.be