There’s Something About PAINTING at Tatjana Pieters

Artists: Louis Appleby, Nicky Carvell, Judy Chung, Petra Cortright, Huey Crowley, Ben Edmunds, Alicia Gibson, Tomas Harker, Dan Hays, Rae Hicks, Tom Poelmans, Paul Pretzer, Lily Van Der Stokker, Thaddeus Strode, Felix Treadwell

Exhibition title: There’s Something About PAINTING

Curated by: Michael Pybus

Venue: Tatjana Pieters, Ghent, Belgium

Date: May 19 – July 14, 2019

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Tatjana Pieters

“Surface, surface, surface, was all that anyone found meaning in…this was civilization as I saw it, colossal and jagged…”
– Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho

‘I don’t even care about categories, it feels a little tribal, a little reductive so it may seem strange that I find myself curating a show about painting. It’s a funny category, often looked down upon by the bourgeois intellectuals for its ‘decorative’ nature and popularity with the commercial collecting class (geez as if an artist making $$$ is a dumb thing?!).

Painting is so old and analogue it could appear obsolete in our hyper digitized virtual age, but all we do these days is manipulate imagery by gestureally swiping our digits on the flat touch screens that permeate our waking moments – errr hello painting!

With this in mind I have put together a show reflecting upon approaches to painting in our surface driven culture. A cross generational group of artists who in one way or another explore the depths of surface whilst simultaneously enjoying the frivolity of it all. “Beauty is a sign of intelligence.” states Warhol – so it’s gotta be true. Narcissism, ego, artifice, branding, violence, humour, bad taste, good taste and everything in between is here for you to scroll by. Like it, don’t like it, whatever. We’re all temporary, but painting is here to stay.’

– Michael Pybus