Equally endless is the dynamism that speaks from Maxime Brigou's works. Exciting contrasts between intense black and luminous white enhance the three-dimensionality; blue-gray shapes stand out sharply against a bright red. Robust volumes that seem to be pushed to the foreground play a mysterious game with delicate strips that rhythm the image. Brigou's skilful application of colour, chiaroscuro and composition betrays her background in classical painting. She adds art historical references in multiple layers, but so effortlessly that they might not be noticed at first glance.

There may be a solid painterly basis underpinning her works, but Brigou does use rather rudimentary materials for her sculptures. However, they are impossible to name separately. Brigou abstracts her raw materials, mystifying them in an almost sublime way: beautifully alluring and frighteningly strange at the same time. The stretched outer layer of the works is indispensable for this: it puts an 'uncanny' filter over the image. Like fragile skin on the point of breaking, it holds everything internally together.

Eline Verstegen

Artists: Maxime Brigou