Nico Vaerewijck

Vaerewijck’s oeuvre consistently follows a socially-critical trend. The scrutiny of censorship, undemocratic systems and exploitation regularly can be seen in his works. The hindrance to freedom also shines through in his recent oeuvre. We all think we are free beings, while we focus ourselves on social media. We are being watched by cameras at every corner of the street. Big Brother as a guide to control the all-embracing fear, but which at the same time limits us in our freedom and privacy. The display of our daily activities, masked by a sun-drenched filter, often conceals an ordinary existence or an indefinite desire. The volatile character translates on the one hand into photographic, sometimes cinematic stills in his work, and on the other hand in the suggestive painter’s touch that balances between abstraction and figuration. In the last solo exhibition of Vaerewijck we follow the life of a fictional personage, Duane, which resulted in banal images of disturbed landscapes (partly caused by the work process) and domestic scenes which  alienate us, voyeurism is very close. The irregularities of the often taken  film stills or own foto’s  are always included in the painting.