Walter Swennen, the Belgian artist who began his creative journey as a poet before evolving into a painter renowned for his playful exploration of language and unconventional artistic approach, has died at the age of 79. The announcement of his passing was made by Xavier Hufkens, his representing gallery, though no specific cause of death was disclosed.
Swennen gained recognition in Belgium's art scene alongside other painters who focused on exploring the material properties of their medium. However, his work distinguished itself through its freedom and playfulness, featuring written phrases in multiple languages that appeared humorous but often concealed deeper meanings. These cryptic words were frequently accompanied by figures that seemed borrowed from comic book illustrations, creating a unique visual language that blurred the boundaries between text and image.
Many of Swennen's paintings demonstrated his dry sense of humor and linguistic wit. A 2015 work spelled out "FEED THE FISH" in large red letters, followed by the phrase "at your own risk" written in flowing cursive script. Another notable piece featured a pair of disembodied arms forming the provocative "bras d'honneur" gesture, while yet another depicted a banana peel positioned against a black void, seemingly placed to cause someone to slip.
Critic Mark Prince, writing for Art in America in 2012, observed how Swennen's paintings rendered language unstable. "Swennen's words fight for space with nonsignifying elements, and dissolve into them," Prince noted. "English, French and Flemish speak over each other. The abstraction of a word phases into abstraction as a manifestation of irreducibly visual painterliness."
Swennen's unconventional approach extended beyond his subject matter to his materials and techniques. Rather than using traditional wooden supports for his canvases, he often appropriated found pieces of wood and plastic. Sometimes he would abandon canvas entirely in favor of wood or metal surfaces. This methodology reflected his commentary on conventional standards in painting.
In a 2016 interview with Frieze magazine, Swennen explained his philosophy: "I do try to paint against my taste—not only against good taste but also in the spirit of disinclination, which I consider a virtue. It's difficult to paint against taste. But painting has been very difficult for a long time."
Born in Forest, Belgium, in 1946, Walter Swennen's relationship with language began early in life. When he was five years old, his parents made the decision to have their son speak French instead of Flemish, instilling in him a lifelong fascination with words, language, and meaning. After completing high school, he pursued studies in philosophy and engraving before working toward a psychology degree at the Université catholique de Louvain.
During the 1960s, Swennen began writing poetry, which attracted the attention of prominent artists including Marcel Broodthaers. Although he also started painting and drawing during this period, he didn't fully commit to a painting career until the 1980s. Reflecting on this transition in his Frieze interview, he said, "I was happy that I became a painter because I thought painters don't have to speak. And anyway, from the 1960s on, I had been painting, and studying painting, privately."
Despite his eventual success, Swennen remained somewhat uncomfortable with his status as an established painter. He noted that he wasn't "really in the art world," adding, "What's more, I don't have a trademark style and that's a problem for galleries and collectors."
Swennen's career experienced a significant resurgence following a traveling retrospective that visited Brussels's WIELS Contemporary Art Centre in 2013. He credited this exhibition with jumpstarting his career anew, as younger artists began taking notice of his work. The show also led to a meeting with dealer Barbara Gladstone, whose gallery maintains a space in Brussels.
This renewed attention resulted in exhibitions with several blue-chip galleries. Xavier Hufkens began representing him in 2014, and Gladstone Gallery gave him three solo exhibitions starting in 2015. One of these Gladstone shows coincided with an exhibition at White Columns, a renowned New York alternative space. New York Times art critic Roberta Smith praised his 2015 Gladstone show, writing that "Mr. Swennen seems to have found maturity in a determination to extract a maximum of beauty and humor from a minimum of paint."
While Swennen's curriculum vitae notably lacks appearances at major international exhibitions like the Venice Biennale or Documenta, his influence on younger artists is evident. Contemporary painter Sanya Kantarovsky included Swennen's work in a group exhibition he organized for the now-defunct Metro Pictures gallery in New York. Additionally, painters Mathew Cerletty and Eddie Martinez, both several generations younger than Swennen, have exhibited their work alongside his.
Reflecting on his late-career international success with Gladstone Gallery, Swennen told Frieze with characteristic humor, "I understood what it is to live like a king. I would like to be a king one day a week!" His legacy remains that of an artist who successfully bridged the worlds of poetry and painting, creating a unique visual vocabulary that challenged conventional approaches to both language and art.
