Art Story

"De stilte na het schot, eerste versie" is a painting by Roger Raveel from 1980, signed and bearing a label with the title and date on the reverse. Remarkably, his signature also appears on a plastic bag that is part of the work - now hardened - giving the painting a distinctly sculptural character. At the centre of the composition is a white surface outlined in light blue, flanked by two plastic bags attached to a stick: one is a physical object, the other painted. The light blue framing - also present on the left side of the painting - contrasts with the dark blue background. The white space (a recurring motif in Raveel's oeuvre) evokes both questioning and contemplation about what is being depicted. Are these memories of an event? The title suggests a moment of stillness following a significant act. The work may also allude to an earlier act of social protest: in 1971, Raveel constructed a raft out of plastic bags to protest plans to fill in the bend of the river Leie in Machelen-aan-de-Leie to make way for parking spaces. The bags in this work resonate with that protest and lend the painting a charged, activist undertone. The work is emblematic of Raveel's so-called "New Vision," in which he integrates everyday elements - such as mirrors, cages, or here a stick with a plastic bag - into the pictorial space, thus blurring the boundary between art and reality.