Olivier de Kerten is an artist who builds bridges between the precision of geometry and the chaos of human emotion. His work unfolds across two distinct yet deeply connected practices: one in the realm of tactile, kinetic sculpture, and the other in the visceral language of abstract expressionist painting. Whether working in three dimensions or on canvas, his creations are united by a shared vocabulary of vibrant color and a profound fascination with movement. This duality is not merely a matter of medium; it is the result of a coherent artistic journey, one that began with geometry and gradually liberated color from the constraints of form.
From Geometric Painting to Liberated Abstraction
De Kerten's artistic trajectory is essential to understanding his work. He began as a painter working within a rigorous geometric abstraction, where color was carefully contained within hard-edged forms and precise compositions. In this early period, color served the structure—it was vibrant, but it remained a prisoner of the lines that defined it.
Over time, a fundamental shift occurred. De Kerten progressively freed color from these geometric constraints, allowing it to expand, bleed, and assert its own emotional power. This liberation led him to the expressive, gestural canvases of his current practice, where color is no longer confined by form but becomes the form itself. The rigid geometry that once imprisoned his palette was not abandoned, however. It migrated from the canvas into space, finding new life as the underlying skeleton of his articulated sculptures.
The Sculptures: Geometry Set in Motion
In his sculptural practice, de Kerten acts as an Architect of Form in Motion. He constructs articulated polyhedrons from precision-cut ABS plastic, creating a unique "geometric anatomy." These are not static objects; they are flexible, interconnected structures designed to be handled. By manipulating the joints, the public is invited to transform the sculpture, bending it through an infinite series of configurations. Here, the rigorous geometry of his early painting survives, but it has been set free in a new way: not through color, but through movement. The forms are no longer fixed on a flat surface; they breathe, pivot, and reorganize in space. The colors applied to these polyhedrons are structured—they follow the facets of the geometry, adhering to the planes and edges—but as the sculpture moves, light dances across these colored surfaces, creating a dynamic visual interplay where structure and sensation meet.
The Paintings: Color Set Free
On the canvas, de Kerten completes the journey that began with his early geometric work. Here, color has achieved its full emancipation. No longer bound by lines or hard edges, it explodes across the surface in sweeping gestures and layered immersions. The artist engages in a dance of spontaneous creation, channeling inner turmoil, joy, and contemplation through automatic action painting. The brush records the trajectory of the artist's hand in motion, creating a visual rhythm where each stroke embodies a physical act. Rich, layered hues—from intense reds to serene blues—are built up in a deliberate yet uncontrolled manner. On the canvas, color is free. It does not serve the form; it is the subject, the emotion, the movement itself.
A Unified Vision
Together, these bodies of work reveal a singular artistic journey. The early geometric paintings contained color within rigid forms. The current abstract paintings liberate color entirely, allowing it to express pure emotion. The articulated sculptures take that abandoned geometry and animate it, giving it movement and life while keeping color structured across their facets.
In essence, de Kerten has split his early geometric practice into two complementary paths: one that sets the form in motion (the sculptures) and one that sets the color free (the paintings). Whether through the pivot of a plastic joint or the sweep of a loaded brush, he invites the viewer to experience art not as a fixed statement, but as a dynamic, tactile, and deeply felt journey where geometry and emotion, structure and freedom, finally dance together.
The Relationship Between the Two Styles
The relationship between Olivier de Kerten's sculptures and his paintings is best understood as a bifurcation from a single root: his early geometric period. They are not parallel practices that happen to share themes; they are two branches that grew from the same trunk, each carrying forward a different aspect of his original inquiry.
1. The Liberation of Form vs. The Liberation of Color :
The Early Geometric Paintings represent the point of origin. In these works, both form and color were rigidly controlled. Geometry dictated the composition, and color was confined within its boundaries.
The Sculptures inherit and liberate the form. The precise polyhedrons and interlocking structures are direct descendants of the geometric shapes in his early canvases. But whereas those shapes were static and flat, the sculptures are now three-dimensional, articulated, and capable of infinite physical motion. The form has been set free to move through space.
The Paintings inherit and liberate the color. The vibrant hues that were once trapped within geometric lines have now been released. They spread, flow, and overlap without constraint, becoming the primary vehicle for emotion and expression. The color has been set free from the form.
The Relationship: The two current practices are the result of a split evolution. The rigid geometry of the past has been dissected: its structure now lives in the sculptures, while its palette now lives in the paintings.
2. The Two Faces of Motion :
The Sculptures embody literal, physical motion applied to structure. The geometry itself moves. The viewer's hand sets the polyhedrons in motion, and the colored facets shift and catch the light. Here, motion is an external force acting upon a pre-existing form.
The Paintings capture implied, gestural motion applied to color. The canvas records the path of the artist's hand as it applied the liberated color. The viewer's eye follows the trajectory of the brushstrokes, recreating the energy of the creative act internally. Here, motion is an internal force that created the form (or lack thereof).
The Relationship: In the sculptures, motion transforms the object. In the paintings, motion reveals the subject (the artist). Both are fundamentally about movement, but one is kinetic and tactile, the other is gestural and psychological.
3. The Role of Color - Structured vs. Free :
The Sculptures utilize color as a structural accent. The hues are applied to the facets of the polyhedrons, respecting the geometry. Color highlights the architecture; it defines the planes and edges. Even in motion, the color remains attached to the form, serving to accentuate its shifting configurations.
The Paintings utilize color as a free entity. Here, color has no obligation to respect lines or boundaries. It exists for itself, as pure sensation. It is not serving the form; it has become the form.
The Relationship: This is the most direct expression of de Kerten's artistic evolution. The sculptures represent the stage where color is still married to geometry (though geometry is now mobile). The paintings represent the stage where color has divorced from geometry and embarked on its own emotional journey.
4. The Invitation to Experience :
The Sculptures demand a tactile experience. The viewer must touch and manipulate the piece to complete its meaning, setting the structured colors and geometric forms in motion with their own hands. The relationship is physical and direct.
The Paintings demand an emotional and visual experience. The viewer must let their eye travel the kinetic path of the brushstrokes, immersing themselves in the free play of color and implied movement. The relationship is psychological and introspective.
The Relationship: Both practices reject passive contemplation. The viewer of a sculpture becomes a co-creator of form, physically animating the geometry. The viewer of a painting becomes a co-creator of meaning, emotionally interpreting the liberated color. The goal is the same—to complete the artwork through active engagement—but the mode of engagement differs.
In essence, Olivier de Kerten's work is a continuous meditation on a single question: What happens when you set geometry free? His answer has two parts. In the sculptures, geometry is set free through motion, becoming a living, breathing structure that the viewer can animate. In the paintings, geometry is set free through color, dissolving into pure emotion that the viewer can feel. Together, they form a complete portrait of an artist who began with rigid lines and spent his career learning how to make them dance.