KATI HECK (°1979)

'Multikulti Sause', 2011. Canvas. Wooden cup holders, a wine- and beer glass. Monogrammed and dated 'KH 2011' in the lower right. Title written by the artist on the reverse. Number on label on the reverse 'KH/ P 0026'. Provenance: Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp Foto Courtesy Tim Van Laere Gallery Resale rights applicable. The title refers to Angela Merkel's statement 'Multikulti ist tot' in 2010. Kati Heck stages people from her close circle with a strong sense of drama and irony in her paintings. She often paints happenings she held during her travels or in the studio. Her entire crew is present here: the local night shop owner, acquaintances with a dress-up fetish, horny old men, indie kids, her friends. The naked female body is portrayed confrontationally, almost in a soft-core porn manner. Heck's protagonists engage in difficult-to-define activities, making it complicated for us to figure out what they are thinking or what mood they are in. Often they do not seem to communicate with each other as if they are in different time zones. By combining classical realism like that of the old masters using a wide array of different drawing styles, Heck undermines the seriousness of her virtuosity as a painter. Thus, she balances her compositions both stylistically and iconographically. By using humour, she mixes different influences and creates an exorbitantly individual image of the everyday. The work 'Multikulti Sause’ was part of Kati Heck's similarly titled solo exhibition at Tim Van Laere Gallery in 2011. 230 x 305 cm