Vincent De Boer

As a painter and craftsman, Vincent de Boer seeks for poetry and nuances in the calligraphic line. He explores the limits of language by asking the question: can you tell a complete story in a single letter? A universe that opens up in one line? Driven by a fascination for the traces left after making a movement, Vincent explores his self-imposed technical challenges. While calligraphy is primarily known as a textual tool, Vincent is more interested in the mystical contradictions hidden within it, such as the depth of a flat surface, transcendental time and elusive tactility.

When drawing a line in ink, a separation occurs. The black ink splits the white paper in two. What you create - a black line -, is as important as what you don't create: the white space surrounding it. Calligraphy and its artistic process thus become universal metaphors for permanence and the lack thereof: the effect of an action is irreversible. A line creates opposition and demands a choice: left or right, yes or no, one or zero. However, the line also shows that much is possible between two extremes; the energy with which the line is drawn makes all the difference. Today's visual culture hardly requires imagination: most of it is instant and obvious, without room for ambiguity or nuance. But what happens between the ones and zeros? In the act of a split second, an entire story unfolds in black and white.