"Limbic Dialectical Residue" is the first solo exhibition in our gallery by Rik Moens ( ° 1969 - lives and works in Wachtebeke- BE). Besides new paintings Rik Moens will exhibit his kinetic sculptures "0 - 1 PRO/Mental attractor". Rik Moens positions these sculptures in a cosmological context.
In his paintings Rik Moens repeatedly seeks ways to test the limits of painting, without renouncing the painterly tradition. As a painter, Moens continually questions the conventions and the limitations of his medium. Basic cornerstones, such as format, composition, background, signature, texture and colour are always subjected to thorough investigation. Rik Moens’ paintings are built up in an almost ritual manner, layer upon layer, and in this way, they become the performative carriers of an extremely meticulous process of creation, which can take months to complete. The translation of Moen’s dedication to the medium of painting is evident not only in how he paints, but also in the way he questions the accepted conventions of his medium. Rik Moens paints in acrylics, manipulating the paint in different consistencies and, like an accomplished alchemist, he experiments with a range of additives, including thickeners and glues. The drying process does not always take place as expected and the paint may shrink, ripple or crack.
In this aspect of ‘accident’, the artist sees the opportunity of incorporating this result as an aesthetic element in the work. Another characteristic is the emphasis placed on the material aspects of painting itself. The dripping of paint on the sides of the canvases is unimpeded. This reinforces the ideas of stepping out of the flat plane and adding a three-dimensional factor to the work. The work of Rik Moens is a continuous interplay between artistic integrity and playful irony, between intimacy and expressive power. (Excerpt text Wim Waelput)