, Tim Van Laere Books , 2022 Hardcover, 116 pag. NL / ENG, 255 x 205 x 20 mm, illustrated in colour. fine! ISBN 9789464004199.
Tim Van Laere Gallery is pleased to present its second solo exhibition by Tal R: The Forest in My Eyebrow. This exhibition shows a new series of works that resulted from a confrontation between the artist and an opening in the forest, created by trees that had been cut down. The opening, which curiously seemed to form the shape of an eye, compelled the artist to make a series of drawings, which he later reworked in his studio into colored drawings on paper, woodcuts, and large-scale paintings. In addition to these works, Tal also presents a new bronze sculpture in the outdoor patio of the gallery. ?There is a strange coincidence in the Danish language that the word forest ?skovbryn? and eyebrow ? jenbryn? are very similar to each other,? Tal explains, referring to the title of the exhibition. ?So when I saw this eye-shaped space of cut-down trees in the forest, I was intrigued. I took a chair and sat there daily to draw. While I was drawing, I asked myself: What exactly am I looking for? What is it that I am drawing? What am I doing here? When you have been doing this for years, it is no longer about copying the forest. It is no longer about registration. You are doing something else. Something you might not be aware of yourself. So when I talk about an eyebrow and the edge of the forest, it is actually me wondering: How long do I really see the forest before me, and after which amount of time do I start to invent the forest? I think that is a question many artists can relate to. When you draw something outside from yourself, for how long do you see it? What do you actually see? And when do you start to invent your version of it? When do you start to use the world as a mirror for something else you experience in life??