The Artistic Practice of Vincent Geyskens
Vincent Geyskens is a Belgian painter, visual artist, collagist, draftsman, and poet. Born in Lier, Belgium, he studied painting at the Royal Academy of Antwerp, graduating as a "master in the fine arts" in 1994. His formal education continued at the Higher Institute for Fine Arts (HISK) in Antwerp, where he earned a degree in visual arts, and he later completed a postgraduate degree in art criticism at the University of Leuven. In 1995, he spent a year at the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam specializing in graphic arts.
His work explores the role of painting in contemporary society, specifically how it relates to a visual culture dominated by video, film, and photography. Geyskens focuses on the essence of painting through its connection to art history, the underlying construction of the work, and the physical experience of using materials. His practice emphasizes the craftsmanship and materiality of the medium, often utilizing thick layers and splashes of paint.
Themes and Techniques
Geyskens's oeuvre is characterized by a lack of homogeneity in style, subject matter, color, and material. He works on various supports, including wood, cardboard, plastic, and objects. His imagery can be enigmatic, exploring themes such as the body as an experiment or myth, pornography, infection, eroticism, artificial light, and androgyny. He does not distinguish between figurative and abstract elements, treating a brushstroke or a plane with the same value as a figurative element.
His technical approach often involves:
In addition to his visual art, Geyskens is a poet and has authored several collections of poems, including Het geslacht van de paling and Kuit nog. He has also served as a teacher at La Cambre in Brussels, HISK in Ghent, and KASK in Ghent.
