When looking at the works of Johan Gelper

​

When looking at the works of Johan Gelper (Belgium, °1980) the viewer is immediately struck by the playful way in which they appear to connect the immaterial realm with the reality of tangible things. The artist’s work moulds the cognitive world of ideas and thoughts that attract and reject, touch and release, and open and close, into surprising shapes. Found objects are combined with each other to forge a new state of affairs. At no point will the artist deny the serendipitous nature of whimsical elements in this process. On the contrary, Gelper’s humorous perspective on the contribution of the human endeavour to comprehend the world around him – an indefatigable burrowing in materials and techniques – give his works a cheerful appearance.

 

Lief Brijs, 2016 (translated from Dutch)