Michiel Ceulers
27 March - 2 May 2009
Private View: Thursday 26th March


Rod Barton is delighted to present a series of new paintings by the Belgian artist Michiel Ceulers. This exhibition is his first ever presentation of work in London and his first solo exhibition since he graduated from his MA last year at KASK in Ghent, Belgium.

This show presents a number of paintings investigating the medium of paint. At first these inconvenient, difficult to read, uncompromising and very diverse paintings are hard to grasp but on a second and third look these small, rather dirty paintings are very precise and sharply handled, cheekily referencing previous historical styles.

Ceulers produces modest, greasy paintings that live with him; they are his belongings. Jostling for position in his small studio apartment they are treated roughly and poorly, they lean amongst and against each other (whilst some are still wet) producing scaring and marking. The dirty marks, thumb-prints, ripped and badly stretched canvases are integral to the work; he is not interested in beautiful or representational pictures, he is simply analysing shapes in colour, brushstrokes and light. Once the paintings have left the confines of his home/studio they cease to be in a constant state of flux and they finally become.

Michiel Ceulers was born in Waregem in 1986 and lives and works in Ghent, Belgium. He completed his MA in Painting at KASK, 2007-08, and his BA in Fine Art at KASK, 2004-06. The artist has exhibited widely in Ghent, Antwerp and Brussels. Later this year Ceulers will also be presenting a solo exhibition at his represented gallery Maes & Matthys Gallery in Antwerp.

Rod Barton, was initially set up as Rod Barton Invites in 2007 as small project based gallery inviting artists and curators to exhibit and present their work. Early 2009 saw the gallery relocate to a new space on Paget Street, housed in a large single Georgian garage in between Clerkenwell and Islington.