Ante Timmermans

The drawings of Ante Timmermans are a critical, but also poetic, reactions to or reflections of his environment. He is particularly fascinated by routine, (hidden) systems, the banality and absurdity of society. The time he spent in Berlin and his move to Switzerland have had an unmistakable influence on his work. Besides small drawings that start off as notes in a sketchbook, he produces monumental landscape drawings. They each bear witness to a wonderful attentiveness as well to his sense of humor. But they are also the embodiment of his thoughts: drawn ideas. At first, Timmermans' work started from ideas such as boredom, routine and the everyday, which he symbolized by circles or loops. Although these notions are still present, the concept of his project has now widened. In his most recent work, he focuses primarily on landscape, city and architecture. They reflect our ways of thinking and acting, but also condition them at the same time. Timmermans is fascinated by the New Babylon project created by Constant Nieuwenhuis, which aims to create a playful society in which the creative man or homo ludens is entirely free. Nothing in Nieuwenhuis’ blueprints for the new city is permanent, everything can change continuouslly, in order to respond to the needs of the inhabitants who are always travelling: “a camp for nomads on a planetary scale”. In Timmermans’ cities too, everything is always on the move. These are cities under construction, never completed. Spending time in a city like Berlin (The city in development) was a significant influence. Just like New Babylon, Timmermans’ cities never end (because the earth is round). Furthermore, although his cities seem to be intensely productive, they rarely or never host any people.

Edith Doove