Rashomon
Jean-Pierre Temmerman
Rashomon
Plus One 15.09.2016 — 15.10.2016
Jean-Pierre Temmerman
Exhibition text
by Marc Holthof
In 1951 the Golden Lion, the first prize at the
get caught; a web that mirrors the maze of
Venice film festival, went to Rashomon by
their own versions of the truth. Kurosawa turns
the Japanese film maker Akira Kurosawa.
nature, the forest, into a mental landscape
The film had a big influence in the West.
echoing the central theme of Rashomon.
It turned Kurosawa and actor Toshiro Mifune into international stars and it started a
Jean-Pierre Temmerman's work was, and
wave of films, plays and books about 'the
still is, clearly influenced by cinema. In this
relativity of truth'. In the film, based on two
exhibition he is showing a series of three
stories
Akutagawa,
watercolour paintings ('Whispers in the Forest
a woodcutter tells of a series of horrific
I-III') that form a sequence in which - by means
events: an ambush, rape and murder. The
of a shifting horizon - a 'camera movement' is
four protagonists of the story however give
visible. Some 20 years ago Marc Ruyters wrote
contradictory statements of what actually
about an exhibition of Jean-Pierre Temmerman
happened. Is anyone of them telling the truth?
in Art Box in Waregem, and stated that
by
writer
Ryunosuke
“the mental landscapes of Temmerman are For this exhibition Jean-Pierre Temmerman was
combinations of reality and abstraction which
inspired by the very expressive nature scenes that
can lead to both chaos, wishful thinking or
play an important role in the film by Kurosawa.
nightmares�. Temmerman indeed was and is a
Famous in Rashomon is the scene in which the
master of the 'mindscape'. He paints fascinating
woodcutter walks into the woods and we see a
landscapes, environments full of details. You
quick succession of moving images showing
can take them in at a glance (as the small
the treetops, viewed from the ground. These
watercolour paintings invite you to), but you can
nature scenes are more than the background
also endlessly dwell in them; especially in the
against which the drama unfolds. They almost
enlargements. They form worlds by themselves,
literally form a web in which the protagonists
with their own laws. Even gravity doesn't
apply here: many of them have no fixed up- or
Seghers. But different from Seghers, the world
downside. You can turn them around, hang
of Temmerman is largely abstract with only a
them vertically or horizontally, or upside down.
recognisable horizon or a cloud as a figurative reference. Seghers' work suggests a virtual
These works are the result of a long, technical
dream world, an immeasurable space. In
and conceptual process that took more than 15
Temmerman's work we are being fully emerged
years. In this period Temmerman developed a
in that space, in that dream. Often we seem
whole new technique that allowed him to explore
to be underwater, in a submarine world, in
certain themes already present in his earlier
which the fixed coordinates of our world are no
work. Part of this evolution was accidental: as
longer valid, in which we lack reference points.
he no longer had a studio, Temmerman had to develop a new way of working. He started
In Rashomon the nature scenes reflect the
making small watercolour paintings at home.
relativity of truth which is the central theme
These magnificent little works excel because
of the film. The strange, endlessly fascinating,
of their subtle variations of azure green and/
mental
or pale brown tints. Some of the new work was
'Rashomon'-exhibition inevitably also touch
also possible thanks to technology: photography
on the central theme of the film: reality is
and UV printing techniques make it possible to
lost in a web of interpretation. But more than
enlarge these small watercolour paintings and
that: we have lost our reference points, and
turn them into large and imposing canvases.
are submerged into the dream world of our
landscapes
of
Temmerman's
observations and emotions. Temmerman's These works recall not only the nature scenes
works are backdrops for a new, unknown and
in Rashomon but also the work of another
unwritten film – that of our own imagination.
master of the mental landscape: the coloured etchings of 17th century Dutch artist Hercules
Marc HOLTHOF
RashĹ?mon
by Werner Van dermeersch
Rashōmon has become synonymous with the
collection of over 1,000 stories written during
relativity of ‘truth’. All stories of the witnesses
the Heian Period (794-1185). The themes are
seem perfectly logical and defensible, but
very recognizably contemporary, often dealing
still there appears to be an underlying
with human selfishness and the importance of
motive to tell 'the reality' different from their
art. Ryunosuke Akutagawa stressed that moral
own perspective. The black and white film
considerations are of little importance when
Rashōmon, 1950 by Akira Kurosawa based on the
survival is at stake. He sees truth and reality as
stories of Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927).
relative terms.
Rashōmon (羅生門, 1915 and only 10 pages) provides with the first page, the opening scene
In the last phase of his life Ryunosuke
for the film and Yabu No Naka (In a grove" 1922,
Akutagawa suffered from insomnia, physical
also 10 pages) forms the source for the main
and psychological problems. At the beginning
story of the film. The final scene with the
of 1927 he attempted an unsuccessful suicide
foundling added by Akira Kurosawa becomes a
with his friend. In July of the same year he took
Deus ex Machina, a tool for the ultimate truth,
an overdose of Veronal that he received from his
the element that mounts our perception back
friend Mokichi Saito, a poet and psychiatrist.
on point; as completion. However in the story
He was only 35 and left 150 written stories.
Chuto (Rovers, 1917), the story ends under the Rashō Gate, the southern gate of Kyoto (794-
Veronal is the name of the first tranquillizer
1185), where Akogi, the retarded maid gives
and hypnotic, discovered by the German Nobel
birth to a baby.
Prize winner Emil Fischer and physician Joseph von Mering in 1882, launched commercially in
These stories the Ōchō-Mono are based on
1903. The name Veronal would be derived from
historical
the
the fact that von Mering took a dose of the drug
Konjaku Monogatari (Tales of long ago now), a
during a train ride and woke up on arrival in the
Japanese
sources
such
as
“The Rashōmon-effect is the effect of subjectivity of perception on recollection.” Karl G. Heider, visual anthropologist, 1966
city of Verona. Veronal has hypnotic properties
The
miniatures,
so
called
watercolour
and a half-life greater than 100 hours. As a result
paintings, are much more than that, completely
all body functions slow down substantially, for
soaked, saturated with pigment and self-made
several days. Continued use leads to addiction
recipes. Intuitive and autonomously without
and an overdose leads to death. Veronal is no
predetermined conception. They arise and
longer being sold.
grow, sometimes over a period of 10 to 15 years until the oxidations become independent
In the oeuvre of Jean-Pierre Temmerman the
universes. The titles are given afterwards
medium of film is recurring. As medium by
as a concretization of the subconscious. By
itself, as reminiscence, as visual element and
magnifying up to 625 times (189 million pixels)
not in the least in the references of the titles.
the miniatures become infini’s on a monumental
That what served as backdrop in his earlier work,
scale in which every microscopic detail becomes
as infini, became independently autonomous to
visible for the first time. Rashōmon's gates on
the foreground in his work of the last 15 years.
Jean-Pierre Temmerman's parallel reality.
Initially out of necessity, ultimately as essence. Made as miniatures where, once you zoom in
One untitled work (of the Cosmo Ocean series)
on, you start to disappear into infinity; infini.
initially was horizontal and subsequently became
Horizontal, Cosmo Oceans, Vertical, Event
a vertical work of the Event Horizon series and
Horizons. An event horizon in cosmology is
thereby got the title Rashomon Forest. A gate at
the boundary behind which information, in the
the bamboo forest, the Samurai, the wife of the
form of matter or light, can no longer reach a
Samurai and Tajōmaru the robber, in colour.
certain or another point; neither in time, nor in
Each one his own imagination.
space. The perception horizon is relative and in different places or times it can be different for different observers.
Werner Van dermeersch
Artworks
Event Horizon, Study Raincloud III Rashomon
UV curable ink & crayon on evergreen textile, 2000 - 2016, framed 127 x 178 cm, unframed 124,4 x 175,4 cm
Event Horizon, Study Raincloud II Rashomon
Ink, watercolour & crayon on paper, 2000 - 2016, framed 31,4 x 38,9 cm, unframed 24,3 x 17 cm
Event Horizon, Study Raincloud I Rashomon
Ink, watercolour & crayon on paper, 2000 - 2016, framed 31,4 x 38,9 cm, unframed 24,3 x 17 cm
Event Horizon, Study Raincloud IV Rashomon
Ink, watercolour & crayon on paper, 2000 - 2016, framed 31,4 x 38,9 cm, unframed 24,3 x 17 cm
Vibrations in the Forest
Ink, watercolour & crayon on paper, 2000 - 2016, framed 23,8 x 29,4 cm, unframed 12,4 x 17,3 cm
Ocean Vibration
Ink, watercolour & crayon on paper, 2000 - 2016, framed 23,8 x 29,4 cm, unframed 12,4 x 17,3 cm
Movement in the Forest
Ink, watercolour & crayon on paper, 2000 - 2016, framed 46,5 x 38,4 cm, unframed 25 x 15 cm
Cosmo Ocean, There will be...
UV curable ink & crayon on evergreen textile, 2000 - 2016, 310 x 432.9 cm
Cosmo Ocean, Blue Hope
Ink, watercolour & crayon on paper, 2000 - 2016, framed 31,4 x 38,9 cm, unframed 24,3 x 17 cm
Cosmo Ocean, False Idyll
Ink, watercolour & crayon on paper, 2000 - 2016, framed 31,4 x 38,9 cm, unframed 24,3 x 17 cm
Traces of Architecture
UV curable ink & crayon on evergreen textile, 2000 - 2016, framed 174,5 x 127 cm, unframed 171,9 x 124,4 cm
Spring - Summer - Autumn - Winter ... and Spring again
UV curable ink & crayon on evergreen textile, 2000 - 2016, framed 248 x 178,8 cm, unframed 245,4 x 176,2 cm
Whisper in the Forest I, II & III
Ink, watercolour & crayon on paper, 2000 - 2016, each framed 31,4 x 38,9 cm, unframed 25 x 15 cm
Cosmo Ocean, Rashomon Forest
Ink, watercolour & crayon on paper, 2000 - 2016, framed 23,8 x 29,4 cm, unframed 12,4 x 17,3 cm
Traces of Perspective Rashomon
UV curable ink & crayon on evergreen textile, 2000 - 2016, framed 248 x 184 cm, unframed 245,4 x 181,4 cm
Event Horizon, Study Raincloud V Rashomon
UV curable ink & crayon on evergreen textile, 2000 - 2016, framed 127 x 178 cm, unframed 124,4 x 175,4 cm
Cosmo Horizon
UV curable ink & crayon on evergreen textile, 2000 - 2016, framed 127 x 178 cm, unframed 124,4 x 175,4 cm
No Nobori Flags
UV curable ink & crayon on evergreen textile, 2000 - 2016, framed 127 x 178 cm, unframed 124,4 x 175,4 cm
Exhibition
Views
Curriculum
Vitae
Jean-Pierre Temmerman Born in Leopoldstad (Congo) in 1957
Education 1985 - 1986 Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf (DE) 1979 - 1984 Koninklijke Academie KASKA, Antwerpen (BE)
Solo exhibitions 2016
Rashomon, Plus One Gallery, Antwerpen (BE)
2003
The Desire to Be a Cloud, Gallery Al Segno, Zaventem (BE)
Lost in Transition, Gallery Benoot, Knokke (BE)
Temmerman - Vermuyten, Gallery De Ziener, Asse (BE)
1997
Gallery Artbox, Waregem (BE)
1996
Endless Dreams of Endless Scenes, Ecole des Beaux-Arts,
Gallery Fortlaan, Gent (BE)
Gallery Artbox, Waregem (BE)
Grenoble (FR)
1995
Bataille d'Oreillers, Cinema Savoy - International Filmfestival of Flanders, Gent (BE)
1992
Endless Dreams of Endless Scenes, Gallery Plateau, Brussel (BE) Endless Scenes of Endless Dreams (Take Two), Gallery Joost Declercq, Gent (BE)
1991
Gallery Joost Declercq, Gent (BE)
Kunst RAI' 91, Gallery Joost Declercq, Amsterdam (NL)
In the Beginning There Was an Image and the Image Was Ours... A Sequence, Gallery Joost Declercq, Gent (BE)
1990
Endless Dreams of Endless Scenes, Gallery Florizoone - Fine Arts, Nieuwpoort (BE)
1988
The Schoolroom, Gallery Ronny Van De Velde, Antwerpen (BE)
Group exhibitions
2016
Next Level, Pakt, Plus One Gallery, Antwerpen (BE)
2016
The Cutlery show, Valerie Traan, Antwerpen (BE)
2015
Zomerexpositie, Archief voor de toekomst, Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke (BE)
Objet Oblige, Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke (BE)
2009
Voyage Sentimental, Montpellier (FR)
2004
P. Van Roy, E. Derac, Scruvo, D. Mathieu, Bolenz, D. Dassiez, S. Rousseau, J.P. Temmerman, Gallery Benoot, Knokke (BE)
Van Stof tot Asse, Gallery De Ziener, Asse (BE)
2003
Gallery Benoot, Knokke (BE)
Gallery Benoot, Lineart, Gent (BE)
Black & White, Gallery Benoot, Knokke (BE)
Kunst uit Brussel, Gallery Benoot, Oostende (BE)
1998
Alice in Wonderland, installation in Fort Hoboken in the
Gallery Annie Gentils, Antwerpen (BE)
context of the summer of Antwerp (BE)
1996 - 1997 The Event Horizon: H. Almeide, Michelangelo Antonioni, A.-E. Bergman, Marie-JosĂŠ Burki, A. Egoyan, S. Farrell, Anne Veronica Janssens, S. Landou, C. Newman, M. Spigel, N. Pasic, Michelangelo Pistoletto, T. Robinson, Sam Taylor-Wood, J.P. Temmerman, M. Tusek, Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (IRL) 1994
Petit Format, traveling group exhibition, various cultural institutions
1993
XIV Contemporary Art Fair, Gallery Vega, Brussels (BE)
Le MusĂŠe du Petit Format, Fevecq, Etterbeek (BE)
1992
Belgien zu Gast: Jean-Marie Bytebier, Michel François, Jean-Pierre Temmerman, L. Vandevelde, Gallery Schröder, Mönchengladbach (DE)
Art Fair Köln, Gallery Vega, Köln (DE)
Kunstwerken Verworven door Nordstern Versicherungen, Köln (DE)
Basel Art Fair, Gallery Joost Declercq, Basel (CH)
1991
J. Brown - Rap, Jean-Pierre Temmerman, Koen Theys, Robert Devriendt, Gallery Van Krimpen / Kunst Rai '91 met Declercq, Amsterdam (NL)
XII Contemporary Art Fair, Gallery Vega, Brussels (BE)
Kunst in Vlaanderen, Nu, een Keuze uit Tien Jaar Aankopen van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, M HKA - Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerpen (BE)
Art Fair Köln, Gallery Vega, Köln (DE)
1990
Robert Devriendt, Lili Dujourie, Juan Muñoz, Jean-Pierre Temmerman, Narcisse Tordoir, Gallery Joost Declercq, Gent (BE)
Basel Art Fair, Gallery Joost Declercq, Basel (CH)
Tempels, Zuilen, Sokkels, C.C. de Werf, Aalst (BE)
Monochromie: Charlton, Hamak, De Keyser, Spaletti, Danner, Welling, Temmerman, Brandl, Wery, Richter, Mees, Dorner, Gallery Lucy Jordan, Oostende (BE)
1989
Carte Blanche à Jan Hoet. Pauvreté et Baroque, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Le Havre (FR)
Basel Art Fair, Gallery Joost Declercq, Basel (CH)
Art L.A., Gallery Joost Declercq, Los Angeles (USA)
1988
Lineart, Gent (BE)
Gallery Ronny Van De Velde, Antwerpen (BE)
1986
Julius in der Landschaft, Galerij Lohrl am Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach (DE)
Film and videography
2001
Science Fiction, feature film, preparatory studies and production design, Gent (BE)
2000
Les Enfants de l’Amour, feature film, directed by Geoffrey Enthoven, production design, Gent (BE)
1998
De Boeren en Casa Poetica, VPRO, Amsterdam (NL)
De Wannabees, pilot project, directed by Kris de Meester, art direction, Gent (BE)
Het Trappenhuis, short film, directed by Yves van Opstaele, art direction
1997
Charlotje, short film, directed by Lien Willaert, art direction
De accordeon, short film, directed by Mariano van Hoof, art direction
1996
Video documentary, about the work of Jean-Pierre Temmerman commissioned by Nordstern Versicherungen
Fugitive Cinema, stage by Robbe de Hert, Antwerpen (BE)
Gaston’s War, feature film, directed by Robbe de Hert, stage, Antwerpen (BE)
De Bal, feature film, art direction
1995
Recording for the BRT program Affiche, following Bataille d'Oreillers, Savoy Cinema in Gent (BE)
1991
Recording for the BRT program Kunstzaken, following Temmermans first individual exhibition in Gallery Joost Declercq, Gent (BE)
1984
Totaalspektakel voor Sabena, directed by Jef Cassiers, design
1979
Geruchten, directed by Ivo van Hove, staging and scenery
Bibliography
Bibliography, catalogues and publications in book form
2016
Temmerman, J.P. (2016). Endless Dreams of Endless Scenes, Endless Scenes of Endless Dreams. Antwerpen: Jean-Pierre Temmerman
2001
Bex, F., Baudson, M., Smets, I., and Van Calster, P. (2001). Kunst in BelgiĂŤ na 1975. Antwerpen: Mercatorfonds
1991
Temmerman, J.P. (1991). In the Beginning There Was an Image and the Image Was Ours: A sequence. Gent: Imschoot
1990
Temmerman, J.P. and Tarantino, M. (1990). Jean-Pierre Temmerman. Gent: Imschoot
Colophon
Artworks Jean-Pierre Temmerman Text Marc Holthof Werner Van dermeersch Photography Plus One Gallery & Mirror Mirror Design Mirror Mirror Plus One Gallery Jason Poirier dit Caulier Sint-Hubertstraat 58+ 2600 Berchem - Belgium www.plus-one.be @plus_one_art
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