Walter Swennen
Subtitle: das Phantom der Malerei = The phantom of painting
By: Herausgeber: Stephan Berg, Kunstmuseum Bonn; Konrad Bitterli, Kunstmuseum Winterthur; Bruno Tempel, Kunstmuseum Den Haag; Autor:innen: Stephan Berg, Konrad Bitterli, Astrid Goubert, Daniel Koep
Contributors: Berg, Stephan, editor, author; Bitterli, Konrad, 1960- editor, author; Tempel, Bruno, editor; Goubert, Astrid, author; Koep, Daniel, author; Städtisches Kunstmuseum Bonn; Kunstmuseum Den Haag; Kunstmuseum Winterthur
Publisher: Kannibaal bvba / Hannibal
Published: 2021
Place of publication: Veurne, Belgien
Language: ger; eng
Number of pages: 176
ISBN-13: 9789463887649
Subjects: Belgian Painting; Modern Painting; Exhibitions
Other titles: Phantom der Malerei; Phantom of painting
Work titles: Paintings
Description: Walter Swennen, (°1946) born in Brussels, is a painter. Like others of his generation, he re-approaches and explores the medium by applying principles from other disciplines. Swennen's work constantly challenges the viewer. His paintings demand to be viewed slowly and attentively. Beneath the layers of paint is often a battlefield of incitements, corrections, words and messages. Because his Dutch-speaking family suddenly started speaking French when he was five, language games are an integral part of his art. A painting by Walter Swennen is not only a result, but also a process. We register the distance traveled to the final 'visible' image. An important constant is the pleasure he gets from the fight with the paint. Non-conformist as he is, Swennen paints on everything from canvas to wood to discarded camping tables, stoves and washing machines. continues to focus on young artists. Swennen is represented by the Brussels gallery Xavier Hufkens and the New York gallery Gladstone, and won the prestigious Ultima Career Prize for Visual Arts 2019. His work is in numerous museum collections. Exhibition: Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany (March-May 2021); Kunstmuseum The Hague, the Netherlands (Fall 2021); Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland (Spring 2022)
Notes: Catalog of an exhibition held at the Kunstmuseum Bonn from June 3 - August 29, 2021; at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag Ocober 2, 2021 - January 9, 2022; and at the Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland from January 29 - April 24, 2022

In German with some English