Opening Reception: Friday, April 7, 2017 from 6 – 9pm
On View: April 7 – May 13, 2017
Brilliant Champions
5 Central Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11206, USA
Brilliant Champions Gallery is thrilled to present “Canticle”, a solo exhibition by Belgian artist Peter Depelchin. In his first American solo show Depelchin mingles his major New York influences with his large background on art-history and multi-cultural archetypes. Using ancient techniques and a long forgotten process of trial and error, study, sketch and finalize, he managed to set up a new cross-cultural concept based on the world famous Su Poem ‘The Canticle of the Birds’ (Farid ud-Din Attar).
A Canticle is a hymn, a song of praise. Depelchin lent the word ‘Canticle’ for his solo show because he considers the ensemble of his four images as a hymn, a theatrical poem. The four images exhibit an intense relational process from conversation, over seduction and intervention to subjection using the metaphor of Pan and Hermaphrodites. In classical mythology, Pan sees in Hermaphrodites the women he seeks, but discovers the man he rejects. In his collage series and his large-scale drawings he shows us a Pan that persists in his perversity and drives Hermaphrodites to subjection. He shows us the ruthless male fallic force that step by step dominates the fluid, hybrid human form of the future. Depelchin builds a narrative in which we are allowed to discover both beauty and ugliness.
Peter Depelchin is a young conceptual artist, mastering the expertise of an old master. His artistic practice is articulated in two main steps: first, a research phase formulated with studies, photographs and small writings resulting in a series of sketches or collages. Second, after having studied his subject at length, he begins to rigorously draw. The initial sketches are always put to use either as a stable point of departure for later artwork, or as autonomous artworks in their own right. The materials he uses to develop the large-scale allegoric drawings are pen, acrylic marker, Chinese ink, bistre and tissue paper. This combination justly evokes visionary images with both Oriental and Occidental cultural influences. Likewise does his grip on several ancient printmaking techniques such as woodcut and intaglio.
Peter Depelchin has been very active on the international art scene, with residencies in the Netherlands (Stichting IK, Vlissingen, 2008-2009), in Italy (Academia Belgica, Rome, 2014-2015) and in the United States (Residency Unlimited, New York, 2016), exhibitions in Rome (Fondazione MAXXI), Brussels (het Kasteel van Gaasbeek) and London (Young Masters). In early spring of this year he had a solo-intervention at Offspace Gallery (NYC, US) and participated in the group show ‘Afterimage’ at inCube arts space in New York. Recently Peter was selected as laureate for the prestigious biennial Belgian art prize ‘Grote Prijs Ernest Albert’ that had its focus on contemporary drawing (Mechelen, Belgium). Past fall he participated in the group show ‘Outside In’ in SOHO (NYC, US) and had a succesfull solo show at the Light Cube Art Gallery (Ronse, BE).
Brilliant Champions proudly presents “Canticle”, a solo exhibition by Peter Depelchin and celebrates with an opening reception on April 7, 2017 from 6 – 9pm and is open to the public. The exhibition runs through May 13, 2017 with open hours Thursday through Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm and by appointment or chance.
