Ronny Delrue

Jan Hoet

august 2011

In one of my earlier introductions (1997) of Ronny Delrue’s oeuvre I pointed at the area of tension, created by refusal: by being unattended to recognizable details of reality on the one hand, and by being aware of the need to approach the essence of things on the other hand. Hence his conviction not to meddle that much with the sensorial aspects of his subjects as well as with their inner side. Therefore making use of all means of the art of painting and drawing, he reaches a bigger universality.

Especially his drawings show that intense use of rejection and gesture. By reflecting and meditating he searches for his own identity. The characters that appear in his work of art are simultaneously nearby and far away. Nearby as concerns the periphery, far away when it comes to the apparition. The face, the first-rate identifying mark, is vacuous, with merely little notations of the ears, nose, eyes and mouth. As a result the face remains an open question, so as to survey even more what is behind that character: its life of mind, its secrets.

Ronny Delrue’s art is about adapting and changing reality, and therefore also about the rejection to expose “das Wiedererkennen”. Because of that you naturally get alienation. Delrue creates secrets that challenge the spectator to redefine, and possibly to identify with, that which is depicted in a new way. The work of art becomes a mirror. A dialogue between the artist and the spectator comes into being. Disappearing, hiding and erasing: but covered in darkness so much stronger penetrating the banality of everyday life.

Restlessly searching for new techniques and possibilities is also a part of Delrue’s drive to find his truth and to reach the point at which the work of art liberates itself from the anecdote, from possible frustrations, and is freed from the banality of everyday life. He doesn’t shun the experiment and digitally turns the smaller helio etchings into enlarged and blown up prints. He links monumentality to darkness, and turns the everyday intimate scenes into stately portraits. As a result new experiences and stories are created whereby reality grows into a larger complexity.

Fragment of a contemplative text about Ronny Delrue’s art, written by Jan Hoet.