Anne Mariën: the unpaintable

By Jan Van Woensel, March, 2024, Prague, CZ

I met the artist in a rural suburb of the city Mechelen, Belgium, where she lives and works. I was first introduced to her via the Royal Lucasgilde, the artist guild established in 1886 that she is a member of, when I was in the process of doing research in preparation of a group exhibition for the Cultural Center of Mechelen in 2017. In her studio, some of the artworks reminded me of the watercolors of Mary Abbott (1921 – 2019), one of the pioneering women in the field of abstract painting, who similarly employed vibrant colors and energetic brushstrokes to create emotional abstractions of nature. Other artworks struck me with their authenticity and intensity: explosions of paint, as if you were looking at something that was innately restless and stemming from the depths of a visionary soul. Anne Mariën paints the unpaintable.

Up until the age of forty, Mariën didn’t receive a formal art training and would only occasionally make drawings and sketches on her travels and vacations. In 2000, when a newspaper published an advertisement from the local artist and activist Frans Croes (1936 – 2011) that announced that he was looking for students, she signed up. Each Sunday morning she traveled to the house of Croes located in the idyllic hamlet of the Zennegat, a confluence of three rivers, to paint, draw and philosophize about life in his attic studio. It isn’t certain how much of an early influence the artist had on Mariën (his work is described as inspired by mysticism, esotery, symbolism and eroticism), but when she showed him an abstract expressionist painting, her first ever, Croes enthusiastically called it “an orgasm”. From that moment, Mariën understood that the artistic motivation that she had felt deep inside of her for such a long time, and the language of expression that she was searching for, now had come together sensibly. Like it was for Mary Abbott, for Anne Mariën too, abstraction “just hit me”. And it can be said that it was the weekly sessions in the studio of Croes that guided her towards her own light. In her words, Mariën recalls that “Frans Croes joined me on my path to the discovery of my artistic language. He taught me to be brave and to source my own inspiration”. With this artistic liberation achieved, he further advised the artist to always stay faithful to her own individuality, to not comply with the dogmas of the academic world (where she would continue her training), and admitted that he can’t teach her anything anymore. So to speak, the true artist Anne Mariën was born out of that painted “orgasm”. The climaxes in the art of Mariën are not sexual. Instead, they relate to a primeval force, to the origin of life, and nature.

The paintings of Anne Mariën are never based on one single image (of nature) but rather on a collection of experiences and impressions that she receives on her journeys, that grab her attention, that she internalizes, almost spiritually, and that she naturally recalls in the process of painting. In fact, in this hides an aspect of her oeuvre that so far has been underexposed. Mariën can be called an artist-traveler. Her wanderings don’t only inspire her work but it depends on them. Nature’s diversity and constant flux, its formidable force, light, colors, exoticness, vastness and immersiveness can be only experienced fully by exploring the outdoors. Her travels to places that are known for their breathtaking sceneries include countries such as: Norway, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, France, Croatia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Thailand, Panama, Argentina, Ecuador, Jordan, Cape Verde, Uganda, and the United States, among others. Back at home, the artist’s studio then functions as a meditation space where an introspective journey takes place that is inspired by the physical experiences she gained on the road, as much as it is also the arena for new creation. For the artist, her paintings recall the physical exposure to the elements of nature; a subject that can’t be illustrated figuratively but can only be experimented with in personalized abstract expressions. In a letter to the artist, the former Council of Culture of Mechelen, art collector and friend, Frank Nobels, wrote that “the oeuvre (of Anne Mariën) cannot be defined by one word. She is an authentic artist who is self-critical. She explores, pushes her boundaries and embarks on creative adventures. Each artwork can be described as a spirited attempt to grasp the totality of life”. Experimentation is thus important for the type of work that Mariën is committed to. Experimentation essentially undermines the idea of the ability to control the painting, and as such, she remarks that her artmaking process relies on a combination of technical preparation, action and reaction, and coincidence. Truly remarkable is the observation that in the result of Mariën’s metaphorical journey of creation (the painting) one can visibly recognize gestures and movements that in combination with colors and light, give the impression of a genesis. In this lies the unique quality of the artworks of Anne Mariën. Just like the evocative feeling that we receive when we are looking at a scenic landscape, we can’t say anything about it, because all words would fall short of the immersive experience. Anne Mariën’s unpaintable work is just that. 

Anne Mariën: www.annemarien.com Instagram @studioannemarien

Jan Van Woensel: Instagram @curator_jan_van_woensel @zaraz_ukraine

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