Her first individual exhibition (1998)
"A movement”, in this case a dance movement, can be analysed technically and systematically. This was demonstrated by Muybridge in the last century by capturing picture after picture the legs of a galloping horse. That is a cool, factual, almost scientific investigation of the movement.
By phasing the dance movement, Marijke does something similar. She works systematically, so there is no "just some mess".
Yet the paintings are more than a mere setting down of the different phases of a dance movement, due to De Cuyper's empathy with the subject. Dancing is not just the execution of trained passes, one after the other. Painting should not become mechanical either. Certainly not if, like Marijke, you try to grasp something of the experience, the ecstasy, the trance that can accompany dance. To be able to display such a thing, you must have experienced it yourself. In this way, planning is pushed into the background by the experience.
Paradoxically, the overall experience of dancing is made more visible by lifting a small part from an overall picture. By carefully zooming in on a dancing couple, only fragments of heads, hands, and flowing folds of clothes can be seen.
Nothing is immediately recognizable and the recognizable things merge with a larger general movement. A dancing couple can also experience this when partners feel their individuality merged into a larger movement: the dance itself. These moments are rare and last for a long time because of their intensity. It seems that Marijke, by painting them, wants to keep hold of these moments for a longer period of time.
However, in the beginning we do not get to see the moments of experience and systematic work.
What can be seen are the brush strokes and the color, they make the painting into what it is: first of all a painting. Because of the brush strokes, which either make a smooth winding movement or shoot in a different direction at an instant, it is possible to empathize with the movements that the painter himself made while creating the work.
In addition to the paint smears, the paint accumulations, the light-dark contrasts, the color also contributes to immersing one series in a different atmosphere than the other.
In some works, everything bathes in a nocturnal blue that can also be seen at full moon, making the movements almost murmurous. On other occasions, sunny gels create an excessiveness that looks festive.
Luc De Roeck
Teacher of art painting
St Lukas Academy Brussels
What artist Marijke de Cuyper wants to achieve with her paintings is making people happy or fascinating them with what 's so important for her : expressing emotions, enjoying simple things and daring to live your dreams.
The great sources of inspiration for her elegant paintings, in which blue tones are dominant, are dance, water and music.
She is always impressed by the grace of the human body, the dancers and their gracious movements.
Water has always fascinated her in all its forms: lakes, ponds, rivers, the sea. Near to the water, she always feels integrated in nature. Still, music is also present in all her works: she already has sixty works made on songs by Stef Bos, one of her big favorites.
"Vrouwenstreken" exhibition (2017)
From her childhood on, Marijke came into contact with her father's friends, who painted, gave drawing lessons or played theater. In his printing office it was a paradise for the little girl who liked to get started on scraps of paper.
Later during her education she was taught by Mrs. Helbig, who had a contagious enthusiasm. Probably because of that, Marijke de Cuyper became a drawing teacher herself. Later, she also specialized in drawing and painting at the "Sint Lukas" academy in Brussels where she still faithfully follows the courses.
This artist has a great admiration for the work of Nicolas de Staël and his colorful, abstract landscapes, for the deeply human in the works of Permeke, for the infinite emptiness in the blue creations of Yves Klein, the meditative tranquility of Marc Rothko, for the masterful sense of color in the portraits of Michaël Borremans, for Francis Bacon, Frans
Hals and Claude Monet and the liquid figures of Marlène Dumas.
In music, she prefers Stef Bos unconditionally, whom she has been following for 25 years as a loyal fan. His live performances are an absolute must and a lasting source of inspiration and admiration. But she also likes Ozark Henry, Eric Clapton, Milow, Patty Smith, Sarah and Marc Vanhie, Frank Boeyen and Yevgeni.
What she wants is just continue to enjoy painting and batik. Too large projects are not necessary for her. She likes a lot to tell her story on a smaller scale.
She likes projects in full nature, something in which music, poetry, dance and painting can flow together in harmony. And maybe, sometimes, an art fair abroad...
A museum in which one of her paintings could be admired? To her, the Antwerp M.H.K.A is a special place, but then again a little too big for Marijke, who prefers smaller and warmer spaces.
Of course, everyone would grant her that….
