Artist focus: Marcel Ceuppens

Artist focus: Marcel Ceuppens

from March 20, 2020

Marcel Ceuppens is a positive artist who likes to make people happy. Last year, during a fair, we had an immediate crush on his work. His background as an art director in advertising has given him a keen eye for graphic design, and he is proving to be just as skilled as an artist. Sleek lines, a reduced range of colours, bowler hats and touches of formica... Marcel Ceuppens draws directly from the codes of art and design of the 1950s to create his prints.

"I'm a big fan of contemporary art, but it's mostly mid-century art that has had a major impact on me. And not only painting or sculpture, but also architecture, design, photography, cinema, music or advertising." If he likes that era so much, it's because artists and designers aimed to make things and life better. It was a time full of hope for a bright future. They were really providing answers, finding solutions, all with a great sense of aesthetics. And according to him, everything he does is influenced by this passion.

When Marcel gets to work, he has a vague idea of what he wants, but he doesn't really know where he's going, and why a piece works or doesn't work. "I always say that my abstract compositions are like visual Sudoku. I move, I slide, I change and I wonder about shapes and colors, in all possible directions, until it finally works! So I guess I don't really control where it takes me, I just know when the piece is finished and it's perfect." What does he want to share through his work? "One day, at an art fair, an older man in a suit was looking at my piece "The Bathers" for a very long time. And he was smiling. I asked him why he was smiling, he said he was smiling because it made him happy. That's the nicest compliment I've ever received. So I'd like you to say it makes you happy!"

See all the works of Marcel Ceuppens