Bert Frings
“I make drawings and paintings, where still life is often the starting point. The work reflects consumer society and the human trait of placing oneself above nature. Through small everyday things, I say something about (the behavior of) people, without actually depicting it.”
In his works, Bert Frings (1972, the Netherlands) looks at the coexistence and temporality of objects, animals and people. He explores what is carelessly left on the street or what appears in his daily living environment. He highlights objects and brings them together with objects from his childhood by which he revives and magnifies the sentiment, associations and meanings hidden behind everyday objects. Where does consuming stop and the ethics and meaning of something marketed almost exclusively as a utilitarian object begin?
In Frings' still lifes, (humanized) animals appear adorning various packages. The painter notes that although animals play a major role in our imagination, in everyday urban life they are quickly associated with nuisance. There is less and less room in society for real animals, but we must see man and nature as separate. In his still lifes, he brings together various associations and interactions with animals. For example, Frings regularly has the jackdaw Mickel, which often appears in his garden, return as an individual in his work.
- Annosh Urbanke, curator TENT, Rotterdam, 2023
