ENARGEIA
solo show Lode Laperre
28 October - 13 November 2022
Decentralized Art Club
Schoolstraat 14
9040 Ghent, Belgium
open: Friday, Saturday & Sunday 2 - 6 PM
Among other things, 'Enargeia' - the title of Lode Laperre's solo exhibition at DAC (Decentralized Art Club of owner/manager Sandra Ruyssinck) - refers to the energetic awareness that the viewer gets when looking at the intensely layered works, in which the colors seem to be extracted or liberated from the layers underneath.
On the other hand, 'enargeia' is also a literary technique that is used to paint a vivid picture of a situation. The description of a scene or person becomes so emphatic that it almost becomes a visual reality. This is a reference to the expressive, abstract visual language in which Laperre creates a distinctive world, which almost becomes real and is literally tangible.
Curator Rui Guerreiro explains:
‘I clearly remember my first encounter with Lode Laperre's paintings. As my gaze travelled over the textured surfaces, intense and smooth, rich in detail, daring in form and atmosphere, an initial strangeness emerged, in the sense that it got hold of me, and steered me towards new thoughts, new solutions and responses. The moment felt profoundly pure, as pure is Lode Laperre's visual expression.
In the artist’s paintings, there is an absence of a narrative logic, of information about what motivated his intention or the inception of the gesture, about the before, the past. By giving up these allusions or identifiable representations, Laperre creates a grammar that is very much his own, conceptual in form and communication. It is also worth mentioning the way in which each work, individually, shows a personality and unique character, as if it were its own, untransferable DNA, possibly originating in that tiny moment in which the artist decides to abandon control and surrender the creative process to the unpredictability of the materials themselves.
The methods that Laperre employs are also surprising, uncovering layers of paint, gouging, scraping, often ripping the canvas itself, as if he is dazzled by the moment and just as curious about the hidden secrets underneath. The artist drills down to the tiniest molecule, in search of the genetic information of the work, of something that informs or guides, amid so much amazement and questioning. Looking at Laperre's work is also an exercise that requires one's time. If it is too short, it may prevent the senses from discovering the unexpected landscapes that each look reveals.
Enargeia, the exhibition that the DAC proudly presents is another small piece of trying to understand the mysteries and wonders of Lode Laperre's work.
Will we reach any conclusions? Probably not, but perhaps that's as it's meant to be.’
Rui Guerreiro, Lisbon, September 2022
