Barbé Urbain Gallery

'Foudroyé' means struck by lightning, frightened, but at the same time overwhelmed by the staggering beauty of natural phenomena such as thunder and lightning or the swirling ocean. Or in this case, struck by the infinite vastness of the monochrome paintings by Charlie De Voet (1977), whose deep pools mirror the impotence of the speechless human being.

In the same vein, the beholder feels battered by the violent, destructive, yet seductive installations of Joost Pauwaert (1985) that play with the irresistible attraction of the unexpected.

Joost Pauwaert ‘Pendule with hammers’ ( 2018) Oak and steel,120 x 117 x 151 cm
Joost Pauwaert ‘Pendule with hammers’ (2018) Oak and steel,120 x 117 x 151 cm

Similarly, the desolate ‘landscapes’ of Jean Marie Bytebier (1963), deprived of any kind of human reference, leave the viewer puzzled, terrified as well as delighted. These works navigate the border between one’s self and the external world, causing a sense of crushing expansion.

In Foudroyé the works by Bytebier, De Voet and Pauwaert enter the world of the sublime.

Text by Roxane Baeyens