Casper Faassen exhibits at IBASHO Gallery

From March 24 to April 23, Ibasho Gallery in Antwerp presents an exhibition with photographic works by the Dutch artist Casper Faassen (1975). The exhibition includes several works in which Faassen combines photography, painting and Japanese culture and that illustrate the transience of worldly existence.

In parallel with the Japan museum Sieboldhuis in Holland, where Faassen exhibits until June 4th, IBASHO presents a new series inspired by the elegance of Japanese culture and brevity of Japanese prints. The results are beautiful, melancholic images featuring recurring motifs from Japanese culture. Fleeting images present us with the image of Japanese women in luxury kimonos, swirling snowflakes and displays of cherry blossoms.

By combining photography with painted layers, Faassen could be described as either a photographing painter or painting photographer. Reflecting on his entire oeuvre, themes such as transience and beauty but also feminine splendour, form the basis of his work. In Faassens work the impermanence is expressed by the disappearance of images and is heightened by the addition of a layer of craquelure. The crazing and cracks infer the influence of the hands of time. This emphasises the contrast between the beauty of the images and the inevitability of decay. The pieces in this exhibition are constructed from different layers of photographic and painted art. They are introverted images, not entirely visible, like a memory or a dream. 

Casper Faassen grew up in Leiden, where he developed his passion for drawing, painting and art. He uses a wide range of materials and techniques. His work includes paintings, photography and graphic techniques including lithography and screen print. He works with a wide range of materials, including painting on old doors and canvas, extending to photography on glass, modified with acids. He started his career as a painter, using photographs as preparation. Faassen developed as a photographer to such a level that his pictures weren't only part of his preparation; they also became the basis of his work. 

Casper Faassen
24.03.2017 – 23.04.2017
IBASHO
Tolstraat 67,
2000 Antwerp
www.ibashogallery.com