The Flemish painter Luc Tuymans (1958) is one of the most important contemporary artists. All leading museums have his work in their collections, and he has had exhibitions all over the world, from Paris (Centre Georges Pompidou) to New York (MoMA).
In the documentary ‘Luc Tuymans – In het licht van de argwaan’ (in the light of suspicion), the artist is interviewed in his studio in Antwerp and he is followed in setting up an exhibition in Venice, where the viewer gets a clear picture of Tuymans’ obsessions and fascinations.
The artist delves deeply into his work and its backgrounds, so that the viewer not only gets to know the oeuvre, but also the man behind the oeuvre. Besides, the documentary provides a broad overview of Tuymans’ artistic production./
Original images don’t exist
Much of Tuymans’ work is based on visual material, such as photographs from medical archives, film images from the war years, reproductions from old magazines and advertising printed matter. He calls it ‘authentic forgeries’, believing that original images do not exist and that each image originates from another. Something always seems wrong in the paintings. Sometimes they have a nasty history. In other cases, the painter plays with this sense of doom: ‘Very banal things can give the impression that something repugnant might have happened.’
Wet in wet
Tuymans makes his paintings in one day, wet in wet, without having to think about it – he has already done that before. Short, measured brushstrokes, lively but without bravado or accent. In his own words, he has always wanted to avoid a style: it is about letting the image speak, not the paint.
NPO Start
The documentary is directed by John Albert Jansen and produced by Interakt and Picoux Productions, and can be seen via Dutch broadcaster NPO Start.
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