Critic

To be acutely aware of one’s surroundings is undoubtedly the first sign of a person possessing intelligent and active powers of vision. So many people pass through life and see nothing! But active awareness is also the basis for any kind of artistic activity as long as it is imbued with emotion. Many have that skill but, apart from perceptiveness, art requires a level of personal expression that includes technical mastery. This is where the numbers dwindle and where variables such as nuances and proportions come to the fore as it is essentially about interpretation. If it is true that art is a living thing, it follows that it must be able to evolve, as otherwise it will ossify due to repetitiveness. Hence, it is quite normal to say that an artist is ‘on the move’ or in search of something.

The course taken by Roby Hoffmann characterises this search. Feeling restricted by his work that involved the printing of graphic art, the artist from Malmedy (Belgium) took random but conscious liberties. His first shows revealed an original artist who structures his compositions with the playful use of fine and subtle brush strokes that analyse and virtually caress the landscape. Then again, he appears to attack his canvas with the youthful vigour of the ‘Fauves’, creating a gamut of colour which, whilst daring, is devoid of aggression and where static representation is increasingly replaced by fluid movement. His style is becoming more and more gestural withdrawing from a reality that is increasingly just hinted at and interiorised. Large flat compositions initiate a dialogue between colours which, while being lively at times, does not lack a certain serenity whose depth is never contradictory in itself.

Later, Roby Hoffmann turned his attention to materials such as wood, glass, metal and slate. However, instead of new material he preferred to work with aged pieces that had been in human use for many years. In his work, he combines these materials or emphasises their ancient character shaped by the passing of time. At times, he lends them new life by creating installations in situ such as rivers. The shape of the grooves found on discarded pieces of slate inspires him to create pictorial compositions that are sober and sensitive at the same time.

It is therefore not surprising that oriental philosophies that he has come into contact with during encounters with people in India or China are particularly resonant in the spirit and expression of an artist, who is always more interested in the human essence rather than in appearances. In Roby Hoffmann’s work this is reflected in forms that are merely hinted at in a way that the onlooker, if he is that way inclined, can make out the contours of faraway landscapes as if seen through layers of mist. More than ever it is up to the artist to offer suggestions and up to the viewer to do with this offering as he pleases.

This is the great freedom of Modern Art. And in this case, it reveals the finesse and sensitivity of an artist who follows his inner path whilst refusing to live in an ivory tower: contacts with other artists are the proof of an open mind that is devoid of narcissism and does not care about exclusivity. There is nothing preconceived about the path that this artist has taken; it is a path that rises towards an ever richer contemplation of the human experience which is offered at the discretion of an authentic talent to be shared with the rest of the world.

Albert Moxhet
Critique d’art