Saint-Paul-de-Vence — De Buck Gallery is delighted to present Gommaar Gilliams’ Retracing Walkways, the gallery’s second solo exhibition with Belgian painter Gommaar Gilliams in Saint-Paul De Vence. A body of nine new paintings, Gilliams’ latest works draw on his continued interest in the theme of ‘collective memory’ whilst also taking a new emphasis on the inherent order of things, since time immemorial. Having pored over medieval maps, Gommaar’s recent paintings reflect their own innate sense of structure with their winding walkways, abstract brushstrokes and varied painterly interventions. In each painting there are distinct yet abstracted symbols: flora, celestial stars, a figure, all of which are there to take on a symbolic not literal meaning. Lines, full of color and emotion connect these symbols- making the workings of walkways or “mind maps” visible. Once immersed in a dreamy dreamscape by Gilliams, one is drawn into reflection and contemplation. Universal themes of duality, desire and longing emerge; connecting us not only with the artist but also with one another as our “collective memories” merge to create a collective experience.
“A big part of my work deals with storytelling”
Gilliams’ painting process involves layering and combining various materials, allowing colors to soak into the fabric and adding oil paint and oil sticks to create new layers. His combinations of different techniques and materials mirrors the balance of both abstract and figurative methods of storytelling. “A big part of my work deals with storytelling; not a specific story, but the combination of different pictorial types of story telling. When a work is finished, all the different pictorial elements -the painting process- together with all the art historical and cultural references that I use are mutually arranged. Because my work deals with the general universal idea of storytelling, the surface and the energy of the works are telling the story, giving direction, allowing to read it in a compositional as well in a poetic way.”
About the Artist
Gommaar Gilliams was born in 1982 in Lier, Belgium. Graduating in visual arts from LUCA School of Arts in Brussels and having a Masters degree in Painting from PXL College in Hasselt, his large-scale paintings and textural wall hangings fuse American Abstract Expressionism with figurative elements derived from Middle Eastern to European symbolism. “Take the swan motive for example. It bathes in so many references and feelings. A part of these references sits in our collective memory and they all fit in the world I want to create. So are all the other symbols, motives that I use: the boats, moons, stars, sleeping foxes, castles, birds, flora etc. My works are symbolic works in the way that they look both back and to the present. Evoke the passing of time”. In Gilliams’ paintings, he provides the opportunity to examine the complexities of emotions, desires, and the stories that connect humans.
Gilliams has exhibited widely across Europe as well as in solo exhibitions such as The Cabin LA residency in Los Angeles. His work has also won numerous national awards in Belgium including the Ernest Albert Grand Prize (Grote Prijs Ernest Albert) in Mechelen and the Prize of the City of Harelbeke (Prijs van de stad Harelbeke). His work is included in many private and public collections.
