Supplément d'âme


Supplément d'âme (2013) by Yves Velter

About the artwork

The sculpture is trying to give a visual response, in a reflective and poetic way, to deep human feelings.

The human figure is half stuck in the wall. Precisely by not showing the other half of the figure, the boundary between the inner and the outer is visualized.

The physical effect of the work is reminiscent of the short story Passe-Muraille of 1943 by the French writer Marcel Ayme. The main character is Dutilleul, an official from Montmartre. At the age of 43, he discovers that he has the ability to walk through walls. Although neither this physical change nor its treatment interest him initially, he eventually uses this ability anyhow to commit crimes and to sneak upon the woman he falls in love with. Eventually Dutilleul loses his ability after accidental ingestion of medication that was prescribed to him a year before, and finds himself stuck in a wall.

About the artist

image Yves Velter, ° 1967, Ostend, Belgium
Lives and works in Ostend, Belgium - www.yvesvelter.com

Autodidact

Marc Ruyters, chief editor of H ART Magazine, describes Velters work as "the expressiveness of the unreadable" in which he examines human beings (himself but also other ones), their psyche, their perception, their philosophical perspective. "The characters in his work seem familiar figures, but they are hard to place. They get little context with little background, no indication of place nor time: it is often a human being in a critical situation. They look coded: their eyes or whole face contain a material with a symbolic value. Sometimes they are made up of pieces of letters written by an autistic aunt of his. Lyrics which are illegible, unintelligible for everyone except for herself, because she was using her own language. So does an artist like Yves Velter too: he created his own image codes. The oeuvre of Velter is about questions that refuse to be answered, about fears that mask desires, about talking without communicating, the expressiveness of the unreadable. In addition, a commun feature emerges throughout the work and typifies Velter: a feeling of discomfort. Not a cheerful nor spectacular oeuvre, but an oeuvre that slides discomfort into the mind of the viewer, by showing what we all feel, but do not want to know."

Zebrastraat - Permanent artworks - Supplément d'âme by Yves Velter