Artists

Mathieu, Manuel

Thinking With The Figure, 2022
Courtesy: Manuel Mathieu, Foto: Selma Gurbuz

The work of artist Manuel Mathieu explores themes of historical violence, erasure, and the visual cultures of physicality, nature, and religious symbolism of his homeland, Haiti. In it, he presents concepts that dance with stories of power that are an ongoing part of African Americans’ and Haitians’ struggle for equality. Mathieu is known for his paintings that depict fluid, expressionistic ghostly figures in pastel colors, which the artist created by manipulating paint with techniques such as scratching, frottage, drawing, dripping, and burning. Using archived material, such as videos and photographs, as a starting point, the works address the fact of erasure, invisibility and narrative voids of Haitian history. His paintings are a way of responding to the challenges of his native country, and show his personal reflections and investigations on these subjects.
In his more recent works, he uses installations as a medium to convey his reflections, combining paintings with ceramic objects and scorched cotton drapes. His installation was recently presented in the exhibition In the Eye of the Storm at the Z33 House for Contemporary Art, Design & Architecture in Belgium, an exhibition responding to the effects of climate change on the Caribbean. Mathieu’s interest in working with ceramics is inspired by the work of Haitian blacksmith and sculptor Georges Liautaud, whose metal sculptures symbolized spiritual gods and myths, combining Voodoo and Christian inspiration. Mathieu’s ceramic figures are abstract in their form, but still embody an animistic and symbolic sensibility. Becoming objects that carry a spiritual value. By creating these mythical objects, the artist reflects on theimportance of preserving the imagination of his homeland, which is not being erased as in the past, but continues to exist through works of art.

Text: Sarie Nijboer; englische Übersetzung: Johanna Schindler

The work of artist Manuel Mathieu explores themes of historical violence, erasure, and the visual cultures of physicality, nature, and religious symbolism of his homeland, Haiti. In it, he presents concepts that dance with stories of power that are an ongoing part of African Americans’ and Haitians’ struggle for equality. Mathieu is known for his paintings that depict fluid, expressionistic ghostly figures in pastel colors, which the artist created by manipulating paint with techniques such as scratching, frottage, drawing, dripping, and burning. Using archived material, such as videos and photographs, as a starting point, the works address the fact of erasure, invisibility and narrative voids of Haitian history. His paintings are a way of responding to the challenges of his native country, and show his personal reflections and investigations on these subjects.
In his more recent works, he uses installations as a medium to convey his reflections, combining paintings with ceramic objects and scorched cotton drapes. His installation was recently presented in the exhibition In the Eye of the Storm at the Z33 House for Contemporary Art, Design & Architecture in Belgium, an exhibition responding to the effects of climate change on the Caribbean. Mathieu’s interest in working with ceramics is inspired by the work of Haitian blacksmith and sculptor Georges Liautaud, whose metal sculptures symbolized spiritual gods and myths, combining Voodoo and Christian inspiration. Mathieu’s ceramic figures are abstract in their form, but still embody an animistic and symbolic sensibility. Becoming objects that carry a spiritual value. By creating these mythical objects, the artist reflects on theimportance of preserving the imagination of his homeland, which is not being erased as in the past, but continues to exist through works of art.

Text: Sarie Nijboer; englische Übersetzung: Johanna Schindler

Thinking With The Figure, 2022
Courtesy: Manuel Mathieu, Foto: Selma Gurbuz