Regardless of memory


Regardless of memory (2013) by Yves Velter

About the artwork

The painting Regardless of Memory shows a group of people who are closely packed together as if there is a need to do so in order to be able to use the strength of the group. Despite the atmosphere of calmness, there is also a strange feeling.

On the right half of the picture we can see that there are actually two groups: there are two individuals talking to each other, with their respective supporters close by.

In the painting, the characters literally have no face, they are anonymous. Their face is replaced by hardboard that serves as a metaphor. The hardboard is originally from the back of an old wardrobe from Yves Velters house. It is a material which for years was present in his living room during the many conversations, and so, in a sense, it is a silent witness of his private life.

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 - Regardless of memory by Yves Velter