What actually is a painting? In the simplest sense, it's paint on canvas.
Yet, understandably, for most people, the act of painting itself isn't as significant as what the work evokes. Through paint, you gain access to new worlds—compositions of shape and color that didn't exist before, each representing its own pictorial reality. A semblance of reality—a representation of something that doesn't yet exist—this could be the definition of a painting.
And yet, the process of painting itself is enormously important. The movement of the paint. The way the paint is handled. The speed, the quantity, the mixing, the medium, the gesture, the size. You could call it technique, but it's always about making decisions. At every stage, the painting poses questions that await intervention or response. And the paint itself seems to want something too. Every brushstroke changes the whole. A painting is ultimately the result of all the solutions found in forms, colors, and layering.
In the exhibition, the work of two Dutch artists is on display. At first glance, the work of Katinka Lampe and Janine van Oene may not seem to have much in common, but through the dialogue they engage in with each other in this exhibition, the viewer gains more access than ever to what preceded it. By shifting the focus to the making process, you realize that the similarities between both artists are enormous.
Katinka Lampe's work is figurative. It's about people. About how we look at each other and are beeing looked at. By first taking photos of her models posing according to her instructions, Lampe creates a sort of in-between reality. Then she works with those images. The process of painting ultimately leads her to a new unknown representation. You could call it a semblance of reality.
Janine van Oene's work is abstract and intuitive. But at the same time, it's lyrical. While in her earlier work, clearly figurative elements emerged, her work is increasingly rooted in the abstract world.
Where Lampe leaves a clear signature by working with stencils during the making process, with van Oene, the gesture of painting itself is a clear characteristic.
