Christiaan Diedericks – The Re-enchantment of Beauty

Christiaan Diedericks – The Re-enchantment of Beauty

Christiaan Diedericks

The Re-enchantment of Beauty

SPACE Curated

Opening Saturday 28 October 2023 @ 12pm

Until 6 November 2023

Walkabout Saturday 4 November 2023 @ 12pm

Drinks and Canapés will be served

RSVP for opening and walkabout advised: [email protected]

View the collection here

The term “re-enchantment” describes a re-awakening to the depth of soul that embraces us and the world. To reawaken awareness of enchantment in all of life, we must return to our Beginner’s Mind, to our Original Mind. The theoretical divide between subject and object is a modern cultural construct useful for scientific investigation. It strives to separate the “internal” thinking ego-consciousness from the “external” physical world and applies mathematical, logical methods to analysing the world. To call something beautiful is not the same as calling it an important work of art. As a philosopher might say, beauty is not a necessary condition of the art object. And yet, it is often the beauty we perceive in works of art from the past or from another culture that makes them so compelling.

However, in the light of the above, my solo exhibition: The re-enchantment of beauty is a deeply personal reaction to the notion that beauty is no longer a necessary condition of the art object right now. Over the past few years, I grew more and more tired of a new trend or ”fashion” emerging in the contemporary art world in which skill, good technique and/or traditional beauty is no longer considered important, it is often discarded and or even frowned upon. All art involves one’s mind attempting to translate the “visual” to the “verbal”. With contemporary art, the task becomes more daunting because of the abandonment of traditional styles and especially the concept of “beauty”. An artwork might be considered “beautiful’ if it attracts us and gives us pleasure, but it is important to acknowledge that we always exercise personal taste in identifying the things that please us and differentiating them from other things.

For me, beauty isn’t just superficial, it is a key part of how I personally understand and interact with the world around me at present. Beauty infuses my inner life and helps me form relationships with my environment, from object to landscape to art, and even with each other. It is even possible to create beauty resulting from hardship, illness, heartache, pain, death, war, etc. I currently view a lot of contemporary art too emotionless, more disconnected from the actual world we live in, and often “uglier” than ever before. All the above is however highly personal observations; debateable, contentious, and of course only my own point of view. It is however important to note that to me personally, beauty is not a saccharine, white-washed concept, even a very “dark” work of art could be utterly beautiful.