Kristof Van Heeschvelde

The art of Kristof Van Heeschvelde is a broad reflection about reality. Instead of being an escapist for who the art in itself is everything and the problems of reality are ignored, the paintings of Kristof Van Heeschvelde engage in a dialogue which is renewed on every canvas. This approach is the theme of Die Function der Kartoffel, the function of the potato. What other function does a potato have then to nourish people?
The answer of Kristof Van Heeschvelde is that the cultural image should replace the potato. Can we say with Kristof that art is more nourishing than physical food? It reminds of the ascetic saints of the past who would fast and focus their minds on God. Is Kristof Van Heeschvelde then a religious artist as he transcends the physical? The theme of religion is present in ‘Wijze mannen/Wise Men’(2020), where the adoration of the infant Christ by the three wise men is placed in a radical new context by the presence of an everyday mother. Is Kristof Van Heeschvelde a radical painter? He is radical to the extent that he uses a classical realist art for messages which are contemporary. He uses the technical quality of a master of the past combining often ironic and witty layers of meaning.
Lots of currents come together in the art of Kristof Van Heeschvelde.
One of them is consolation. Modern man struggling with is neuroses, finding beauty in the realistic art of the painter. He forgets for a while his own problems to discover new paths.
One sees clearly that beauty is a choice by Kristof Van Heeschvelde.

©Stijn Maene

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