ABOUT

These are the scenes of everyday life: groups of young people gather to dispel their boredom, commuters are leaving to work, a mother takes her baby out for his daily walk…
The images are familiar. They are seen day after day, week after week, although seeing in this context is relative. One can pass heedlessly by without any sense of involvement: these scenes form nothing more than the décor of modern life. In this appearance they are recalled in the oeuvre of Olivier Deprez. Anonymously and often neutrally depicted, they are assigned the statute of a vague memory.
The work of Deprez radiates melancholy. Each time, the artist returns to that same "evanescent" reality, without emphasizing, without dramatizing. His paintings are never enclosed by their own emotions. The surface is dominated by coolness, an air of distance. The perspective of each work is consequently detached, as from a witness aside.
But if Deprez’ paintings register this detachment, they do so to counteract, as bright green tints and a fiery red are introduced into their surface. The flattened images are in that way systematically being revived as to brutalise the mechanized traffic of the modern person. The work of Olivier Deprez pits itself against the final alienation of human existence. From this point of view it is also significant that the artist ended up in figurative painting – better suited than digital media (photography and film) to record the facts as well as evoking human emotions.
(Bjorn Scherlippens)


C.V.

SOLO (selection)

2008 ‘A la recherche du temps perdu’, Villa De Olmen, sept.- nov, Wieze
2008 ‘Man, falling’, Benoot Gallery, febr.- march, Ostend (+ cat.)
2004 ‘7x Waregem’, Town hall Waregem, oct., Waregem
2003 ‘Fishing at Kortrijk’, i.a.w. rehabilitation centre Overleie, sept., Kortrijk
2002 Castle 'Ter Lake', febr., Zulte
2001 Casino Kursaal Ostend, sept., Ostend

GROUP (selection)

2009 ‘Die Sehnsucht, im Bild zu sein’, oct., MOCA Shangai (CHINA) (upcoming)
2008 TINAG Festival, ‘This is Not a Gateway’, oct. ,London (UK)
2008 ‘Fresh!’, Gorinchem, may, city hall (NL.) (+ cat.)
2008 ‘Defamiliarisation #3', june, The End Gallery, Sheffield (UK)
2008 ‘Defamiliarisation #2', apr., The Gallery, Wimbledon - London (UK)
2007 ‘Black & White’, Benoot Gallery, oct., Ostend
2007 ‘Facture’, oct., Villefranche de Lonchat (FR.) (+ cat.)
2007 ‘Versus IV’, sept. - oct., Oudenaarde (+ cat.)
2007 ‘Geschilderd’, Benoot Gallery, jan.- febr., Ostend (+ cat.)
2006 ‘Ephemerality’, nov.- dec., Menen (+ cat.)
2006 ‘Filiaal van de hemel’, jan.- febr., Lokeren
2005 ‘Jeunes loups/jonge wolven’, oct., Brussels
2005 ‘An Orchestrated Reduction’, de schrijnwerkerij, sept., Geel (+ cat.)
2005 Biennale contemporary art, oct., Aalter (+ cat.)
2005 ‘Entertain-us’, march, St.-Niklaas (+ cat.)
2001 ’works on paper’, aug., Merendree
2000 Galerie ‘E-Artsource.com’, nov.’00 - ’01, Vilvoorde
1999 ARTIVAL ’99, jun., Ostend

SELECTIONS

2006 EXISTENTIE LABO III, oct - dec., Ghent
2006 EXISTENTIE LABO II, may - sept., Ghent
2006 ‘making sense in the city’, nov., Ghent
2005 Selection videoproject ‘JAMES / JAMES’ i.a.w. Dany Deprez, may, BePart Waregem
2005 ‘Imago', a travelling show, march - sept. (laureaat)
2004 Selection ‘SELOR’, Flemish government, apr., Brussels
2003 Selection ‘prijs schilderkunst’, march - apr., Harelbeke (laureaat)
2003 Selection ‘jongartiestenprijs', apr. - may, Geraardsbergen (laureaat)
2003 Selection ‘stimulans 03’, may – jun., Kortrijk
2001 Selection by the province ‘East-Flanders’, june, S.-Petersburg
Exchange of a group exhibition with Saint.- Petersburg (R.)
2000 IMAGO, a travelling show, febr. - apr. (laureaat)
2000 Selection ‘prijs v.h. landschap’, may, Kuurne (laureaat)
1999 Selected project at ‘URGA’, in association with Operastudio Ghent

BIBLIO

- Review La Libre Belgique, ‘Solitude’,march '08, Claude Lorent
- Review Bruxelles-news, ‘Olivier Deprez en ouverture ŕ Ostende’,
(febr. '08, Anita Nardon)
- Catalogue ‘Olivier Deprez’, Benoot Gallery, text by Bjorn Scherlippens
- Catalogue ‘Versus IV’, sept. ‘07, text by Tanguy Eeckhout
- Catalogue ‘Existentie’ LABO II & III, jan. ‘07, texts by Bart de Block
- Catalogue ‘Geschilderd’, Freddy Benoot, jan.’07 (ill.)
- Review H-Art #14,’investeren in het hiernamaals’, nov.’06, Inge Braeckman
- Catalogue ‘Ephemerality’, nov. ‘06, text by Bart de Block
- Publication Recto-Verso, n°17, ‘Hoe actueel is Theo Van Rysselberghe?’
(in association with Tanguy Eeckhout, may - june ‘06)
- Catalogue and exhibition plan ‘An Orchestrated Reduction’, sept. ’05
(Pieter Matthijnssens & Tanguy Eeckhout)
- Catalogue ‘Entertain-us’, march ’05, text by Tanguy Eeckhout