RONY VAN DEN BLOCK

Rony Van den Block had as a child already a passion for drawing. That’s why he choose for an education at the art school of Sint-Lukas Brussels. After his study’s he build out a career as graphic designer. But besides, he continued drawing and painting.

His surname and place of residence (in a block) brought him to the concept of working with only blocks. In the continuous interplay between abstract and figurative, different images are created simultaneously. There is the frivolity with the material, the powerful character of each block in itself, the cohesion of the blocks among themselves, the total concept of a work and finally the entire image (which emerges from a greater distance). Considering things from as many sides as possible is therefore one of the main motivations.

The works under the heading [unblocked] have liberation as a central theme. It imposes an almost absurd restriction to work only with blocks. After all, in today’s world thinking people want to make everything fit into boxes. The choice of subject also plays a part in this. No theme is shunned here. An innate social critical thinking – whether or not supplemented with a cheerful twist – but always pleasant to watch. It zooms in on elements that an ordinary passer-by will miss. Or conversely, distance is needed so that a rhythm emerges that is more expressive than any objective representation.