Artist: Jos de Mey

 

 

It was pleasing to Escher (and to his followers) to realize that quite a few people enjoy the sort of playfulness shown in his work and that his viewers are not afraid to look at the relative nature of rock-hard reality.

Illusionistisch Atelier met een noit gerealiseerd schilderij van Magritte (Illusionary Studio with a Never Realized Painting from Magritte)

Wandelrustende therapeut van Magritte in winters Arcadia (The Resting Therapute? From Magritte in Winters Arcadia)

Escher once said that an impossible situation only really works when the impossibility is not immediately obvious. There should be a certain mysteriousness that does not immediately hit the eye. This is what I attempt in my work.

The potential for constructing impossible situations is limited: they depend on fairly rare geometric configurations. Such images (and my paintings) should have such a sophisticated structure and choice of detail that they come across as pictures of situations that could really exist.

De Toren van Babel aan het Noordzee-Strand (The Tower of Babel on the North Sea Beach)

Enigmatisch dragconstructie met Japanse wonderschelp (Unique Portable Construction with Beautiful Japanese Shell)

My works are presented in a style that combines the surrealistic elements of Magritte with the Flemish touches of Brueghel and other painters of the low countries.

Many of my recent works feature an owl, the paradoxical Flemish symbol that simultaneously represents theoretical knowledge and the wily fool.

Zwevende groengeverfde Uilenrustplaats (The Winging Green Painted Rest Place for an Owl)

Ontmoeting tussen De Steen van de Wijze Durer en De Uil van J.d.m. (A Meeting between the Stone from the Wise Durer and the Owl van J.d.m.)

Born in 1928, the Flemish artist Jos de Mey studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent Belgium then taught interior architecture and color studies for 39 years. Since 1968 he has concentrated on painting. He is most well known for his meticulously realistic depictions of impossible structures. His works further several of Escher's ideas, and are presented in a style that combines the surrealistic elements of Magritte with the flemish touches of Brueghel and other painters of the low countries. Many of his recent works feature an owl, the paradoxical flemish symbol that simultaneously represents theoretical knowledge and the wily fool.

Jos de Mey is an active member of "Ars & Mathesis". Some important exhibitions were in Brussels 1974/Utrecht 1986/"The Tuck" Tokyo 1990/"Extrasensory Museum" Japan 1999-2000.

        
       | Homage to Escher |
                                       
                                  | gallery entrance |

                            | past exhibitions |

                                           | Leonardo On-Line |