Excerpts from the opening speech by Philip Boël for the exhibition UniversA, at Karel de Grote University of Applied Sciences in Antwerp.

“…
And the images will be faces — the most personal imprint of a human being’s presence. At this point, Herman makes a deliberate choice: the face of a young person. Not a child who is still wholly a child, nor an adolescent becoming self-conscious — but rather, a young person who still views the world with innocence.

He found these faces in collections of old class photos. These are not portraits of the selfie generation, for that generation is all too aware of the act of being photographed.

…

Some portraits are painted vaguely, others with great emphasis.

From a distance, the framing reveals the configuration of a face.

Move closer, and the morphology dissolves — the image becomes blotches.

This formal experiment is deliberate and sustained throughout the series.

…

As the series progressed, the technique and use of materials matured —

yet Herman intentionally chose not to highlight that evolution.

Earlier works hang next to the most recent ones — so to speak.

Herman is also a playful spirit who enjoys experimenting:

you’ll find monochrome pieces alongside portraits in duotone and full color.

Each is a formal exploration in its own right.

This openness — also present in his beautiful charcoal studies —

resists narrative and is utterly disarming.

There is a pure painter at work here. Not a storyteller.

And he makes no fuss about that — likely a result of his inquisitive nature.

I suspect, however, that the viewer will experience it differently.

This small regiment of 100 young faces will surely strike a chord.

After all, portraiture has long been a favored genre, and many artists have approached it with clear ambition — Christian Boltanski, Gerhard Richter, or, closer to home in Antwerp, Sam Dillemans.

Their portrait series all start from a conceptual framework, one that gains strength and meaning through repetition.

And this will be no different in Herman’s series.

It’s up to you to dream the story together…