Peter Morrens (born 1965, Belgium) is working on a multifaceted oeuvre, comprising of drawings, photographs, installations and performances, through which he gives form to his fascinations for sensuality, the experience of time, sexuality, destruction, fetishism, unrest, rhythm, reversal, and transgression. Ambiguity, absurdity, but also confused and confusing language and an inappropriate sense of humour are his key sources. Morrens’ practice is driven by intuition: in a playful, probing way he finds, selects and reworks images. Using pencil, charcoal, graphite or paint, images and compositions are constructed and attacked, worked on, tampered with, distorted, erased. Perception itself, but also the viewer’s precise position are central concerns in Morrens’ work. The artist seems to offer us a window to the world, or to create an illusion of such a prospect. An image is that which shifts between viewer and reality. Morrens very often reprises older works in order to consciously disrupt the chronology of his oeuvre. The passage of time is thereby made to speed up or slow down, to be transformed, and freeze.
In the capacity of various personae – Peter Morrens, PM, Herman Smit, Point Blank Press – the artist works in a disparate manner on various series of drawings, objects and installations. Morrens does not believe in the complete autonomy of a work, but focuses on the thrilling opportunities a format such as an exhibition or a book can provide. In that way, there is always a tense, associative connection between the parts and the whole, which – temporarily – engage in a relationship with the space and/or context.