Luc Tuymans @ the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Belgian artist Luc Tuymans (Painter and Filmmaker) is considered one of today's most influential painters and his work is shown widely throughout Europe and the United States.  All of Tuymans' paintings are based after existing representations.  He is inspired by major historical events, human emotional states and everyday occurrences.  Tuyman also chooses to depict the very banal - everyday objects and his art can be described as, "Art simply imitating life."

Tuyman uses a variety of source material and has an endless interest in all forms of image making (drawing, photography, television, cinema, history and memory).  Whether he has used photographs, toys, or sketches as initial source material, his chief subject matter is memory as opposed to direct observation of life.  Tuyman uses several techniques such as close-ups, cropping, framing and sequencing.  Most of his paintings have a certain awkwardness, sometimes allowing pencil under drawing to filter through the paint.  His choice of palette is restricted to pale hues and his paintings are characterized by short, loose brushwork of muted tones.

Tuyman can be referred to as a painter of mood not only in the image created, but also in the physical action of painting itself.  He states, “Before I begin painting, I am in an extremely agitated state.  During the actual execution, I experience enormous pleasure, but before that, it's sheer agony.  The act of painting really involves a kind of aggression or violence."

Luc Tuyman's work will be on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago until January 9, 2011.