een avontuur tussen abstractie en figuratie

wat treft onmiddellijk in de schilderkunst van vanhorck?
het is de eindeloze diepte van een coloriet dat een rijke echo uitzendt.
toch is er een zuivere binding tussen kleur en vorm in dit oeuvre.
het gaat inderdaad om een dialoog tussen kleur en vorm, en dat op
een poëtische frequentie zodat de raaklijnen tussen beide in de sfeer
van een verfijnde legering herkenbaar zijn.
de schilder blijft in essentie schilder waardoor het kleurregister een
overwegende rol behoudt, en de menselijke figuur in de weelde van
veredelde tonaliteiten is opgenomen, en mede de functie vervult
van een stramien waarop het totaalbeeld stoelt.
nergens prononceert vanhorck de vorm als een te zelfstandige
aanwezigheid, zoals ook de kleurpartijen op zich geen zelfstandige
delen van het schilderij zijn, omdat alles harmonisch en zuiver in
elkaar verweven is.
voor deze kunstenaar blijft het kleurveld een paradijselijk domein
van tinten en klanken waarin het onderwerp van de mens, de mythe
en de natuur als het ware onder de verfhuid wordt opgevoerd.
er wordt aldus met verfijnde aanduidingen ontleend aan de
werkelijkheid een vervreemding gesuggereerd.

“art is the memory of the divine”
jean delville

over the last couple of years vanhorck dove into the world of mythology and symbolism and the meaning of color in old and new cultures all over the world. these myths intrigue him, mostly because of the fact that over time and distances they appear to be similar elements.
color, space and structure are extremely essential. the recent works are a feast of color. vanhorck owns a very personal palette that is being dominated with bright blues, reds, with a variety of more earthly shades and even gold.
it is clear that his heart lies with the primary colors. in his recent work the use of color is even more intense. his red is more passionate, the blue is more deep and the yellow radiates the warmth and intense light of the sun.

vanhorck creates illusions.

all works, one by one, are complex compositions in which many layers suggest the working of depth. the air of endless sights and landscapes, cultures and people which he has absorbed is remarkable well expressed. the layers on the canvas are fascinating because of their form, paint that results in a relief. the texture is worth a closer study. the structures that he sees in nature are transformed in paint. he turns it into abstract illusions and aims right for the essence.

they are true landscapes of the soul.

DEVELOPING STRUCTURES

the eye scans reality
1978 – 1983
to learn to know the people and things around you it is absolutely imperative to look for a long time and with great patience. with concentration vanhorck’s eye scans the subjects he is painting in this period. he practises a realism that tries to capture and visualise reality deeper than the skin.

the turning point and the way inside
1984 – 1989
with vanhorck focussed attention leads to self-reflection and to a greater inner awareness. the painter becomes more explicitly aware of the act of painting itself. at this point he starts out on a road that leads inwards. as a result the sensuous reality he was capturing and in a sense fixated in his canvases becomes ‘mobile’. the abstract in depth structure of reality starts to become visible in all its oppositions and contrasts.

the search for structure
1990 – 1995
observing what is going to develop out of the tension and turbulence, is the attitude, characteristic for this period. patience, followed by a discovering of the relations that, though hidden under the surface of things, in the end do create a fundamental order and structure. vanhorck is searching for foundations, and slowly develops a tighter grip on them.

the anatomy of foundations
1996 – 2001
vanhorck realises that real insight cannot be combined with an all too strong grip on things that in this way are no longer allowed to ‘speak’ for themselves. he lets loose and lets go, observes with astuteness and waits to see if the turbulence of line and colour will spontaneously manifest relations.

the supporting power of the story
2002 – 2007
the course of his work intuitively leads vanhorck in the direction of the place where the foundations of a society can be found. the mythology of a country or a time shows itself to be structure of society embodied in sound and image, accessible to everybody but also supported by a powerfull skeleton of concepts and thoughts.

from mythe to clear concept
2008 – present
the analysing of the myths that givestructure and support to a society, spurs vanhorck onwards to liberate concepts ever more clearly from their narrative ‘shells’, and grasp them with the mind. now he combines his former intuitive approach with sharp and clear thinking. in this way he enters upon a new, more integrated and richer phase of his work.2008