Fendre La foule #2 Painting

Illegal or "bootleg" paintings on official documents. For Fred Michiels, painting is not a hostile act fueled by color. No matter how many (nonexistent) laws and regulations are violated, painting is still the hero of his story. Michiels is preparing an exhibition featuring urgent and often uncomfortable aesthetics on official documents. He jokingly calls them "bootleg" paintings, because formal experiments are not allowed on official documents. He calls these painted maneuvers "tactical" and "non-risk-averse." Michiels has been collecting old books and magazines for years. The forms he uses in this series are based on images in (automotive) technical magazines from the 1950s and 1960s. The Office of Useless Art will produce a publication for the opening on Friday, September 11th, at the small museum in Nismes, on the border with France. A booklet made up of "spare parts," all found in those automotive magazines. A booklet, too, about controlled derailments. It's an ironic, inventive decision by Michiels to import shapes into his paintings whose appearance precisely expresses their intended purpose, and whose color isn't neutral.