Introduction

The work of Dutch artist Sidney Waerts is inevitably characterized by a feeling of comfort and a discomfort: his paintings and sculptures show the moment when beauty loses its raison d’être, and presents its darkest side. Behind his figurative images lies a disturbing analysis of our times. Sidney demonstrates artificial characters, human beings and animals that remind us of the banality of everyday life, of our obsession with appearance, look and materia-lism. These characters are the victims of our visual and fast society, the technology of the visible – where human vanity stands in the way of a truly ethical life. By using black and white, Sidney creates sober and melancholic images, as if man – while endlessly believing in progression – has lost something on the way. But on the other hand he displays a maximum of effects: the rough textures and fast strokes look dramatic and seductive, the settings are theatrical and grotesque.

This ambiguity – between the temptation of beauty and our constant urge to abuse her – is the driving force behind Sidney’s work.