Evelyne Axell and Pop Art in Wallonia.

 “La Châtaigneraie”
Waloon Centre of Contemporary Art
Flemalle, Belgium

September 12 – October 11, 2009

Evelyne Axell, a name not known enough in Wallonia and nevertheless an important figure of Pop Art. An artist, a woman in love with the freedom she will decline in various ways through painting but also through acting. The fate of this extraordinarily beautiful young woman ends tragically at the age of 37 in 1972.

We wanted to honour her by showing some works, too few to our liking.

It is also an opportunity to bring a spotlight on Pop Art in Wallonia through two other artists who drew their creative force from this movement: Fernand Flausch and Alain Denis.

Fernand Flausch and Alain Denis never met Evelyne Axell. This makes it even more fascinating the “kinship” between the Tarzans of Fernand Flausch and those of Evelyne Axell or between the flowers and exotic landscapes of Alain Denis and those of Evelyne Axell.

If the game of fashion, an eternal rediscovery, puts a spotlight on the 60’s, formica, bright colours, Jim Morrison and Andy Warhol, it is important to recall the social and political context in which the Pop Art movement draws its roots. The work of these three artists and especially that of Evelyne Axell demonstrates this.

Marie-Hélène Joiret,
Curator