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Erik Van Lieshout

09.22.06 - 10.15.06
Exhibition — Couvent des Jacobins

Erik Van Lieshout, exhibition view, Les Jacobins, Toulouse, 2006

© Printemps de septembre, photo André Morin

Born in 1968 in Deurne (Netherlands), he lives in Rotterdam (Netherlands). 

 

Regarded as one of the most gifted artists in the contemporary Dutch scene, Erik van Lieshout represented his country at the 2003 Venice Biennale. As an enfant terrible in a society for a long time held up as an example of tolerance, Van Lieshout unleashes his fierce sense of humour on well-intentioned conformity. Drawing his inspiration from Rotterdam's street culture and multi-racial mix, the artist creates powerful work, fuelled by raw energy, which does not shrink from incorporating pornography and violence, nor even a dash of satire. His drawings, paintings, and video installations, which display a realism that is at once trenchant and coarse, explore the outer fringes of society, not with any desire for exoticism, but in order to refer the spectator back to his own taboos, be they racial, sexual, or other.

Commissioned by Centre national des arts plastiques.