Peter Rogiers

(Belgium) *1967 in Antwerp

Peter Rogiers’ sculpture “Wild Boys & Girls” shows a torso between figuration and abstraction. Its suggestion of a stooping human body is called into question by the aluminium material, the rings resembling ball-bearing races at the point where the arms would normally begin, and the engineered surface with its gaping fissures. Inside the sculpture, the surface is sharp, dangerous and hostile to life. And yet with the misshapen, apparently superimposed face, Rogiers manages to bring the viewer back to the starting point: we see an anthropomorphic figure. This tension is typical of his work, which often moves between two poles – here, for example, between classical sculpture and Futurism. Rogiers does not illustrate, but investigates what he considers the “essence” of sculpture: form, proportion, contrast, equilibrium and association with the familiar. At the same time he rejects the idea that the meaning of an artwork can be summed up in a simple statement. Although “Wild Boys & Girls” immediately prompts multiple associations with classical torsos in European art history, it eludes clear interpretation through its elaboration, choice of material and – not least – its title.