Jean-Luc Moerman’s solo show

Press Preview: Thursday November 26th, 2009 from 4 to 6 PM
Opening : Thursday November 26th, 2009 from 6 to 9PM
Venue: 18Gallery, 18 Zhongshan East Road (E1), 4F, Shanghai

18Gallery is proud to host famous Jean-Luc Moerman’s solo show in its main gallery. In addition, in its new project room, at the entrance of the gallery, a second show makes the link between Jean-Luc Moerman and the most cutting edge art scene in a show called Art and Tatoo. The Art and Tatoo show includes unseen chinese artists and international talents all debating the link between fine art and the art of tatoo.

About Jean-Luc Moerman :
Jean-Luc Moerman's indefinable shapes, formed by black lines around brightly-coloured tinted areas, are inspired by countless influences: among many there is graffiti, but also independent comic strips, Japanese mangas, science fiction, utopian and futurist designs, car tuning, etc. Sometimes his painted forms seem to refer to biotechnological evolution, communication technologies, and virtual architecture, etc. However, a closer analyse of Jean-Luc Moerman's works allows a better comprehension of their richness. Far more than the product of diverse influences, his paintings are the result of his constant drawing.

A complex articulation between the volume, suggested by the drawings (the black lines) and the large, flat surfaces, generated by the colour sections gives Moerman's oeuvre a dynamic that makes the medium an almost irrelevant aspect. Even if his paintings fit into the formats of classical painting (canvas, paper sheet, etc.) without any difficulty, they easily exceed the limits of the frame or the place that serves as the surface. What counts, is the ensemble of shapes that surround us, becoming the theatre of his artistic interventions. The generic term 'virus-painting' is probably the most appropriate to describe this kind of expression. The exhibition at 18Gallery an occasion to present the wide range of surfaces that Jean-Luc Moerman paints on : from canvases to walls to the most unexpected things creating a real environment.