Born in 1979, Belgian artist Albert Willem is gifted with the ability to visualize the farcical images from his brain onto canvas. Drawing inspirations from museum and gallery visits, he particularly appreciates artists such as Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Kent Iwemyr, and James Ensor.
“Try out all kinds of things yourself and then you will eventually arrive at a personal style.” —— Albert Willem
With no formal training in art, Willem reignited his childhood passion for painting while decorating his house with his own drawings. Exploring the topic of irony and revealing absurdity through what is often ignored or overlooked in daily life, his work is recognised for the childlike naivete with a colourful and humorous touch, bringing a smile to the viewer’s face.
Through experimenting with mediums including nail polish, spray paint and textile, Willem has decided on acrylic and high gloss varnish as his creative media. In 2021, the artist started creating a series of works titled The Conga Line, which the present lot finds itself amongst. Featuring painted conga line dancers over old paintings, the pieces can be lined up horizontally and form a never-ending conga line, exuding a sense of community and jolly festivity.
Willem’s works have been exhibited around the world since 2020. His latest solo exhibitions includes School’s Out at Waterhouse & Dodd, London (15 March – 29 March 2022), sold out eponymous exhibition Albert Willem at Rudolf Budja Gallery, Miami (14 – 31 August 2022), Albert Willem: Chaos in the Cityat Galarie Boulakia, Paris (29 November - 22 December 2022). His works were also featured in group exhibitions such as Group Show: Sync in Progress and L’Empire des sens at Tang Contemporary Art’s Beijing (19 November – 8 December 2022) and Seoul (26 November – 31 December 2022) galleries respectively.
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
signed and dated 'ALBERT WILLEM, 2021' on the reverse acrylic on old painting image 31 x 45.2 cm. (12 1/4 x 17 3/4 in.) frame 41.6 x 55.4 cm. (16 3/8 x 21 3/4 in.) Painted in 2021.