“INTROSPECTION”
Georges Daemen / Sometimes I draw my clown
A self-portrait is always more than the sum of its parts. It is not only the artist who paints and the artist who poses. A self-portrait is mainly about looking: from the artist to himself and from the viewer to the image of the artist. It is illusion and reality at the same time. When I portray myself I know there will be a viewer. That contact with the other caresses my vanity but is also beneficial in the search for myself. Because while painting I try to reveal the relationship I have with my reflection and therefore also with the world. My self-portrait thus becomes much more than the representation of an individual or the projection of a model. It is a reflective mirror conversation.
I found inspiration for the subject of this conversation in my book of poetry published in 1973 by the publishing house Yang in Ghent: “Sometimes I draw myself a clown”.
“I walk next to the road and I look at the horses, I read the newspaper and I say godnogaantoe, you are nowhere safe anymore. I crawl very deep into my pen again and I write and drink coffee. I’m writing a piece about the campanula glomerata that you have to cut when the buds are colored and I think and feel yes, how do I feel. Like a clown playing with his toes under a lamp post. Crazy, but not to laugh with “…
The Duo exhibition “Dream and reality” can still be seen until December 6, click here for more information: https://www.museumvalkenburg.nl/en/agenda/duo-exhibition-dream-and-reality/
