De Meutter Ellen

Ellen De Meutter is a Belgian painter, born in Merksem in 1981. She studied painting at Sint-Lucas in Antwerp (2001-2005). She is a teacher at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. In 2006-2007 she followed a postgraduate degree in visual arts (HISK program) in Ghent, after which she sought further depth at the Jan Van Eyck Academy in Maastricht/Netherlands (2013-2014). The artist: “I like to work with characters that 'fall out' of the canvas. I create a bizarre atmosphere and as a spectator you wonder what just happened. I like nasty, bizarre images.” (2006) Ellen de Meutter won the first prize Het Jong in Antwerp in 2005 and the Fortis Young Ones Award in Ghent in 2006. She held individual exhibitions in the S&S gallery in Antwerp in 2004, in the Tim Van Laere gallery in Antwerp in 2006 , in the Roberts & Tilton gallery in Los Angeles/United States in 2007. She is a permanent fixture at the Tim Van Laere gallery, where she has already held three solo exhibitions, the last in 2011 under the name 'Oost West Thuis Best' . In 2010 she had her first solo museum exhibition at the Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens in Sint-Martens Latem. From the press: “As an artist, Ellen De Meutter is always interested in the mental dimension of the image. Themes such as life cycle, different stages of life and memory feature frequently in her paintings. De Meutter does not use existing visual material, such as contemporary photographs, but constructs mental images from her imagination. Her paintings are often created directly on the canvas. Although her paintings were previously characterized as 'growing pains turned into paint', the tone of her work is remarkably light-hearted and sometimes contains a contrary humor. Her works do not show conclusive narratives, but can rather be interpreted as rebuses or story boards.” (source: web page Art Contest, 2023) (Piron, BT)