a.d.o – Francis van Hout

Mirror-like painted squares, reminiscent of Malevich’s Black Square, the digital pixel and dimensional portals, hang together in a.d.o. The deep inviting pools of colour create layers of distorted reflections within van Hout’s fine modulations of tone and texture.

The painting surface contains serendipitous details of the underlying woodgrain, sanding marks and patches of colour. Each work is comprised of a different tint to the shellac which is revealed in certain lights and angles behind their shimmering exteriors – ascend (blue), descend (red) and oblivion (black). The titles and tones toy with notions of religion, the cosmos and how we exist in the world ascending, descending and reaching finality.

‘They are paintings of the environment they hang in, paintings that absorb you into itself’ – Francis van Hout.

These are works that encourage looking into and beyond themselves. Van Hout asks the viewer to contemplate what is the painting? Is it what we see? What is contained by the piece, in the reflections?

‘I make the work, the next phase is the viewer’s phase with it. From there it becomes their work’ – Francis van Hout.