Working under the pseudonym Serge Largot, the poet and artist Ernest Aerts (1929-2019) developed a colour theory over the years in various phases, which he strived to use daily in what he called “luminous painting”. Largot sought to reveal the ineffable essence of existence by relentlessly using lyrical abstraction, intensely luminous colours, ethereal elements, and references to all things spiritual or “numinous”. In 1965, author and art critic Paul De Vree noted in Largot’s practice a similarity to Jef Verheyen’s work: "Serge Largot’s vocabulary is rooted in antithesis, contrast, and conflict, and therefore relates to Jef Verheyen". Unlike Jef Verheyen's oeuvre, however, "the Largot effect" as Paul De Vree called it, seems to have slipped between the cracks of history.

This presentation—based on archival documents and works from the artist's estate—surveys Serge Largot’s artistic practice and thinking as a “vagabond painter”, and offers a glimpse of the Antwerp art scene in the turbulent sixties.

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Artists: Serge Largot