Gommaar Gilliams Belgian, b. 1982
"In my work, which is an oscillation between abstraction and representation, I try to create seemingly timeless scenarios that appear at once familiar and fantastical, scenes that appear like half-remembered or imagined memories filled with a sense of nostalgia and longing."
- Gommaar Gilliams
Gommaar Gilliams is a Belgian painter born in 1982. Graduating in visual arts from LUCA School of Arts in Brussels and having a Master's degree in Painting from PXL College in Hasselt, his large-scale paintings and textural wall hangings fuse American Abstract Expressionism with figurative elements derived from Middle Eastern to European symbolism.
Gilliams' relationship to art history is highly personal. His work is bursting with duality, both in terms of its contents and its techniques. The great power of this lies in his knack for bringing contrasting elements together in a natural way. This is only possible through an understanding of both the light and the dark. With the painterly prowess of Georg Baselitz or Cy Twombly, he creates works whose gentle magic is reminiscent of the paintings of Paul Klee and whose naturalism and imagination call to mind the work of the symbolist.
Gommaar Gilliams is a Belgian painter born in 1982. Graduating in visual arts from LUCA School of Arts in Brussels and having a Master's degree in Painting from PXL College in Hasselt, his large-scale paintings and textural wall hangings fuse American Abstract Expressionism with figurative elements derived from Middle Eastern to European symbolism.
Gilliams' relationship to art history is highly personal. His work is bursting with duality, both in terms of its contents and its techniques. The great power of this lies in his knack for bringing contrasting elements together in a natural way. This is only possible through an understanding of both the light and the dark. With the painterly prowess of Georg Baselitz or Cy Twombly, he creates works whose gentle magic is reminiscent of the paintings of Paul Klee and whose naturalism and imagination call to mind the work of the symbolist.
Although influenced by traditional figurative art and primitive fragments, Gilliams' abstract and gestural style results in work that reintroduces the subject without detracting from the painting itself. Gilliams' work examines the complexities of our emotions and desires, as well as the stories and imagery that connect humans. Oscillating between abstraction and representation, Gilliams weaves colors and textures with both allegorical symbols and human figures. Compositions framed in celestial elements and wreathes of textural flora beckon the viewer into lush spaces filled with fairytale castles and animals in motion. Gilliams' motifs are dreamy, but intentional-the artist references both the history of painting and the history of art through this body of work. He examines the way that humans search for and utilize repeated symbolic imagery throughout time periods and cultures, tapping into our shared desires and our shared wonder for the natural world.
The protagonists of his narratives, women gazing at the moon and figures running through landscapes, are archetypes referencing universal stories. Ultimately, Gilliams hopes his work will evoke an emotional bridge between past, present, and future, inspiring his viewers to unite in a space of "half-remembered" memories.
Gilliams has exhibited widely across Europe as well as in solo exhibitions at De Buck Gallery in New York and The Cabin LA residency in Los Angeles. His work has also won numerous national awards in Belgium including the Ernest Albert Grand Prize (Grote Prijs Ernest Albert) in Mechelen and the Prize of the City of Harelbeke (Prijs van de stad Harelbeke). He lives and works in Hasselt, Belgium.
