Dirk MARTENS

Dirk Martens distorts photographic images cut out from books and magazines. His constructions, in which the cut image and the handwritten word become entangled, are visually and conceptually multiple.

In his collages – a technique that suits him perfectly – he transcends pure representation and visionary reading. He sees his art as “flashes” during which reality and suffering disappear. He often creates, as he puts it, totally “absurd and impracticable” machines to conjure his torments. He describes himself as someone socially inept and moreover attaches little importance to how others appreciate his work. His work reveals a troubling interior questioning put into perspective in a utopian socio-political framework.