High-reliefs in Corten steel and wood (1986)
His high-reliefs in steel and wood were installed in Simonis station by Walter Leblanc in the year of his death.They belong to the “programmed series” on which Walter Leblanc concentrated intensely as of 1975. The artist’s research during the last decade of his life focused on the “Archetypes”. These are compositions based on geometrical basic shapes such as the triangle, square, circle and their derived forms: the rectangle and the ellipse. This work is made up of three parts, each of which in turn is made up of many different elements. Each part of this triptych generates a completely different process. On the right hand part, the white stone tiling beneath reinforces the monumental power of the rust brown relief elements. The wall on the other side has brown tiles, on which the nine panels of compressed wood painted in varnished white make a strong contrast. And finally the central panel, situated above the rails, has a link with the two other panels, even though it is in itself a very different construction and a constructive design.
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WALTER LEBLANC (1932 – 1986)
He studied at the Academie voor Schone Kunsten (Academy of Fine Arts) and at the Nationaal Hoger Instituut (National Higher Institute for Fine Arts). The activities of the G58 group in the “Hessenhuis” in Antwerp between 1958 and 1962 were a great source of inspiration for Walter Leblanc. Just like the other artists of the G58, Leblanc also broke ties with traditional painting. Walter Leblanc is probably one of the most pure and logical artists to have taken an interest in the play of light and shadow as well as in the phenomenon of human perception. For years he was concerned with the so-called “Torsions”, intertwined threads and ropes which to start with were stretched on a black or white background and later on plastic ribbons which, through different colours on each side, suggested an optical movement to the observer as he or she passed by the work. Leblanc’s work is close to “optical art”. The key concepts are rhythm, order, a play on series and light.
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