"The world is blue at its edges and in its depths... the blue at the horizon, the blue of land that seems to be dissolving into the sky, is a deeper, dreamier, melancholy blue, the blue at the farthest reaches of the places where you see for miles, the blue of distance."
—Rebecca SolnitUnder the blue-tinged veil of night, four vessels drift in Laurens Legier’s surreal maritime scene, Four Ships, 2020. Defying gravity, the boats sail against a vast blue sea in the dreamy shadow of distant, atmospherically hued mountains. Illuminated by the eerie glow of a half moon, the scene insinuates a moment of metamorphosis, as if the vessels are embarking on a passage between real and otherworldly realms. Windless sails undulate with exaggerated creases while ripples strike the glassy surface of the water. The present work exemplifies the 28-year-old Belgian’s use of nautical motifs and repeated forms in works created from memory rather than observation. The voluminous subjects recall the rounded shapes and gradients of digital renderings while referencing Belgian and Flemish painters of the 18th and 19th centuries. Influenced by Romantic period seascapes, Four Ships balances the serene and ominous, the familiar and mysterious.
Quickly gaining international recognition, Legiers has held recent exhibitions in major cities globally, including Mallorca, Los Angeles, New York and London, amongst others.