I wrote a short text for this publication on the work of the Belgian artist Jean De Groote with whom I made a show in 1990. The title can be translated as In the quiet of things.

Jean De Groote is a Belgian artist (° 1955) who creates works from a status of isolation and deep contemplation. They tell the story of an artist who seeks silence. Almost a hermit, searching for the essence of things after they have gained their value over time here on earth and thus earned a place on his canvas. A chair, a shirt, a lamp, a shoe. Ordinary objects that carry a special meaning for the artist. Objects are therefore displayed as they are, stripped of any context. Only the light itself (and the shadow) is taken into account because the painted object derives all its right to exist from this, both in origin as an organism and in the hands of the artist as “model”. (after Koen Van Damme in the ArtCouch)

The publication is a viewing and reading book in which the works and processes are explained by prominent authors, art critics, art philosophers and fellow artists. IN DUTCH!

With texts by amongs others Willem Elias, Eric Bolle, Daan Rau, Marc Ruyters, Koen Van Damme, Sebastian Morra.

You can buy the book via Copyright Bookshop – via their link you can also view some images from the book.

ISBN: 9789464075311, 90 pages, illustrated, 27 x 21 cm, softcover, Dutch, €25,00.