Head Lines are lines drawn by political leaders. Signatures of the powerful figures who shape our world. They are the subject matter of the paintings, which use an entirely unique approach to make politics speak. Paintings that are linked by their formal nature, an intense use of colour, a a tight linear structure and the eventful story that they tell. They are also connected by their content. However abstract the paintings may seem, their intrinsic meaning is actually extremely concrete and rooted in reality. Textual elements reveal themselves. Handwriting. As unique as only signatures can be. These elements open our eyes to the story being told by these paintings.
They show details and individual shapes of particular signatures. These are signatures that impact our present-day lives. Behind them are leaders who shape our generation’s world, our lives, as well as our headlines – from Trump to Merkel, from Viktor Orbán to Xi Jinping. World-famous personalities who we think we know well. However, we have never seen them in this light before. While their faces are all too familiar, these paintings provide an insight into their actions, their decision-making processes, their ways of shaping the future and what they endorse. They depict motions which lead to important changes being put into motion. The paintings do not disclose the full signatures. It’s not the facts that matter but the momentum. The characteristics and inherent features of the motions. The living nature of the moment. The personal and individual. Minds produce lines. Head Lines. The leaders at the very top and the decisions that are made there.
Behind the level of the subject, described by the title Head Lines, we see another level of creative imagination. The linear structures create visual spaces. They give depth to the area they occupy – as well as the area they do not occupy. They often leave large parts of the painting’s surface untouched, thus bringing these spaces into the spotlight. They give form to the “unwritten” space. This results in paintings which tell very distinct stories. It is not just the background colour nor the person’s handwriting which create individuality, but also the imaginary spaces with their wealth of associations. The movements of the lines have an impact not just in themselves, through their flow and their drama, but also through the space outside the lines, which they help shape.