Philippe Van Snick
Image: (c) M HKA, Collectie M HKA, Collectie Vlaamse Gemeenschap
J. Beuys en M. Broodthaers, 1986
This work consists of a series of ten monochromes in wooden frames. Since 1980 Van Snick has been systematically using primary (red, yellow and blue) and secondary colours (orange, green and violet) together with the non-colours black and white and the metallic colours gold and silver. At the two ends of this series he added black and white photos of Joseph Beuys and Marcel Broodthaers as points of notice. They are facing each other. Van Snick literally places his work between these two artists.
Beuys and Broodthaers are generally regarded to be two of the leading artists of the second half of the twentieth century. They are also seen as poles in the history of contemporary art. They died exactly ten years apart (Broodthaers in 1976 and Beuys in 1986), an element that fits well into Philippe Van Snick’s rational thinking. Since the seventies he has been fascinated by what he calls the ‘ten elements’, which consist of ten main colours and the ten numerical figures (0 to 9). The portraits of Beuys and Broodthaers are a variation on the theme of day and night which, together with the colours and the ten elements form a constant principle in the artist’s oeuvre.