SIMON DEMEUTER

Born in 1991 Soignies, Belgium, Simon Demeuter lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. His painting practice is driven by a search for bold simplification of form, inducing his works with pictorial freshness and a sense of immediacy. Colour is the artist's primordial tool to evoke an emotion, an impression, a sensation, a mood or a physical or mental state.

Drawing from childhood memories as well as from travels and encounters, his imagery conveys both an inner landscape as references to Folk Art, the Impressionists, cinema or music. A trivial object, as arbitrary as it may seem, can be the start for an entire new series of paintings. In addition, when dealing with models, they become objectified motifs like any other. Compositions and sceneries are repainted endlessly, with gestural variations in colour, size and through imperfections. In doing so, Simon tries to unearth the trace of an emotion in the simplest and most stripped way.

He has had solo exhibitions at The Cabin, Los Angeles (USA, 2019) and Sorry We're Closed, Brussels (Belgium, 2019). Demeuter has participated in group exhibitions at Frac Champagne-Ardenne, Reims (France, 2021); Can Marqués, Palma (Spain, 2021) et Gilles Drouault Galerie Des Multiples, Paris (France, 2020).

MERI TOIVANEN

Born in 1996 in Kajaani, Finland, lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium. In her work, Meri Toivanen investigates the limits of figuration through the process of painting with the use of semi-monochrome colors and elements of fading and diffusion.

The use of semi-monochrome colors and elements of fading, disintegration and diffusion. Hues from green to blue are for Meri synonymous with neutrality and purity. She became interested in games, situations where power plays take place as a group of individuals become a unit around a table or game board.  Game board. The symbolism of power is explored in both literal and abstract senses, filtered through events and encounters related to games in their performative dimension, such as chess, backgammon, and pool games.

As a referential inventory, Meri Toivanen is also inspired by the history of Finnish cinema.

The history of Finnish cinema, playing with the disconnection of these images as fragments of popular culture, in order to bring out new perspectives.