Lieven Deconinck’s Untitled (Florida) from 2024 evokes rich associations with several iconic figures in the history of abstraction, seamlessly merging elements of painting and printmaking to create a distinctive visual language. The piece recalls the gestural intensity and poetic abstraction of Cy Twombly, where marks and forms seem spontaneous yet deliberate. Deconinck, like Twombly, creates an interplay between expressive, almost scribbled gestures and more controlled, layered elements. The suggestion of floral forms, combined with the rawness of the strokes, evokes a sense of movement and emotion without anchoring the work in strict representation, much like Twombly’s own ethereal and emotive compositions.
The vibrant blend of colours in Untitled (Florida)—the warm oranges meeting muted blues and purples—brings to mind Helen Frankenthaler’s exploration of colour fields and stain painting. Deconinck’s acrylic and lacquer applications create a sense of depth and atmosphere, reminiscent of Frankenthaler’s ability to evoke natural landscapes through abstract means. The translucent layering of paint in Deconinck’s work, combined with the silkscreen elements, allows for an experience where colour and form interact fluidly, much like Frankenthaler’s colour-soaked canvases.
Albert Oehlen’s influence also surfaces in the way Deconinck blends painterly gestures with mechanical processes, such as silkscreening. Oehlen is known for embracing the clash between digital and traditional methods, and Deconinck similarly uses silkscreened elements to add a layer of mechanical precision, which contrasts yet complements the looser, organic acrylic strokes. This duality of hand-crafted and industrial marks heightens the tension within the work, creating a dialogue between control and spontaneity.
In Untitled (Florida), Deconinck skillfully balances these historical influences while carving out his own contemporary space. His work explores the tension between abstraction and representation, hand-crafted and mechanical, while engaging deeply with colour and form. By merging these elements, Deconinck positions his work within a dialogue that spans from Twombly’s lyrical abstraction to Oehlen’s bold experimentation with media, offering a fresh, innovative voice in the ultra-contemporary landscape.