Theun Govers

“Giotto, Hokusai, Gustav Klimt and Rachel Whiteread. The frame of reference used by Theun Govers is diverse, to put it mildly. His style, on the other hand, is clear and individualistic. On the basis of a personal, spatial logic, Govers creates abandoned, frequently dark, spaces. In them, reality appears to have been banished, literally painted out, or to be visible merely in between the many grid lines. Govers’s paintings consist of architectural patterns. Lines, surfaces, rasters and their perspectival division evoke three‐dimensionality and appear to function in their own right. The patterns act as corners of spaces; perspective transforms a cube into an interior. Govers’s compositions are reinforced by, and go hand in hand with, his working methods and use of materials: he paints exclusively on panels, made of triplex, MDF or wooden planks. This enables him to carry on sanding, and adding or removing layers of varnish, to the very last moment. Likewise, it is not exceptional for Govers to dismantle his works when they appear finished and to reassemble the separate planks to make a new painting. As often applies in Govers’s work, the result produces a certain calm and acquiescence, yet accompanied by tension. In a literal sense, tension exists between the use of materials, between the different layers in the work. But there is also tension generated by the few references to the outside world, the implied presence of human beings. In spite of the frequently mundane nature of these references, such as a bed or party streamers, in the context of the painting they acquire a strange, uneasy quality, and seem out of place. The geometrical spaces created by Theun Govers lay bare the rules of illusion that govern the painting, but at the same time they conceal a secret that will not easily reveal itself.” Laurie Cluitmans