Thursday November 23, 2006

ART

Obsessed with art

'Colour of Taste'

CAMILLA RUSSELL



Long, lithe figures influenced by French author Marcel Proust.

Pillen is driven to create art, no matter the circumstances.

If the imagination is the fuel for creativity, then to be an artist is to be continuously in search of aesthetic expression.

Belgian artist Rudi Pillen typifies the ideal artist - at the age of 76 he remains paradoxically both fascinated and agitated by the world, which drives him to create and act on his imagination.

"I never make abstract art. People are always the centre of my work. I have always been an expressionist, because I think it is always the best," Pillen said with a thick French accent.

His second exhibition in Bangkok, The Colour of Taste, at Le Beaulieu restaurant at the Sofitel Asok, represents this ongoing lust for life with vivacious splashes of colour and thick, bold strokes. The 28 paintings share no common theme, save for the passion that is evident in the energetic and furious brush work.

Pillen is well-known in Thailand, and his first visit here in 2001 ended with him developing a lasting infatuation for the people. "I like the people and the smiles," he explained. His painting The Travellers hangs in the Thailand Cultural Centre underground station, allowing passers-by to dwell on the hues and vague shapes of faces before continuing onwards to the bright world outside.

He exclaimed that to be an artist is an ongoing lesson that only ripens with age. His foray into the art world was a conscious breaking away from his family - all his relatives were in the field of medicine. Pillen viewed art as another, different way of appreciating and valuing the human form.

"The Chinese say that to know how to draw bamboo, you must draw for 15 years. To paint bamboo takes 10 years, but a masterpiece can take 15 years to create," he said. "So when I draw a tiger it takes me 76 years. The experience is seen in the work, because creating is very long process. It takes a lifetime."

Reminiscent of Matisse and Picasso, Pillen's paintings and drawings share the same erratic array of colours and lines that capture the human form in sensual and provocative poses. Each piece possesses its own internal glow that resonates on the canvas, revealing his deep understanding of the visceral human experience. He is deeply inspired by countries he visits and the people he meets, for each individual has a story to tell, which Pillen then conveys in his work.

Africa is another country that has captured his affections, and he lived in the Congo for 46 years. "I like Africa. Like Thailand, the country has the s?me people, the same colours, the me smiles and the same stress-free life," he explained.

A quintessentially reative individual Pillen conveys all the infectious, erratic behaviour of an artist, from the black charcoal smudged on his righ hand ai? storing writing implements in the collar of his T-shirt, hidden from view by a large white beard. Pillen is forever drawing and sketching, especially while talking about the current exhibition and his permanent love of art. It is impossible for his hands to remain still while speaking. "To read books gives me inspiration," he explained as his hands flurried across a white sheet of paper, pencil in mid-air. Pillen cited US authors John Updike and Henry Miller, and French author Marcel Proust, as lasting inspirations. "My creations share the same obsessions, like Proust and Miller. I draw long figures inspired by Proust, because he was happy with his books. When I express myself with expressionism, I am inspired by Miller," he added. "When I read about a mother and child, then I will paint a mother and child." The common denominator throughout Pillen's works is his obsession and fascination with artistic expression. Similar to the authors who inspire him, Pillen cannot stop producing art.

The long, lithe figures that are evident in the current exhibition are orderly compared with the flamboyant and colourful figures that predominate Pillen's other paintings and sketches. Eyes are prevalent in many of the paintings too, staring silently from massive canvases in huddles of anonymous figures, or as separate physical entities that seemingly float in splotches of paint. "The eyes are the mirrors of the soul," he said.

"It [creating art] is always a lesson and every day I am putting things into practice. Every day people wake up and realise how little they know. I agree with Socrates that the only thing we know is what we don't know," he said with a smile.

"My favourite painting is the one that I will paint tomorrow, because its always the next one that is the best."