Heart of Darkness
2004
Painting, 270 x 500 cm.
Materials: oil, acrylic and bister on canvas
Collection: M HKA, Antwerp - Donation Friends of M HKA, 2013 (Inv. no. BK7665_M422).
The point of departure for this work was two small paintings showing exotic landscapes: “exotic souvenirs” from Brazil. Such miniature paintings are painted and sold there by the bucket load, but they say little about the real culture of the country. In fact, tourist souvenirs like this can be picked up at many places all over the world, and are often grafted onto the image that our Western society has of other cultures.
Liekens adds elements to these landscapes. The large flat surface of his painting gives rise to experimentation and possibilities, which results in a play of overlaps, differences of scale and girations. At first sight it looks as though one half of the work is the reflection of the other, an impression further reinforced by the illusion of reflection of the zebras in the water. But on closer inspection nothing here seems to tally. The rotation and reflection are false. By a simple mechanism such as the repeated repetition of the zebras, Liekens cleverly produces an image with maximum power of expression. The repetition bewitches and the fuddled effect that the image thereby evokes is further fuelled by the daydream effect of exoticism. However, the title of the work, Heart of Darkness, does not square with this. After all, in the novel of the same name Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) writes of the barbarities of colonisation which his main character Marlow observes during a 200-mile journey down the Congo. The peaceful idyllic picture of the painting is thus wholly at odds with this dramatic title and points to the various layers within Liekens’ work.
(Author: Sofie Vermeiren, 2004)
