Art usually follows the same principles as poetry: it has to come from the heart, from the creator’s inner curiosities for the world and humankind, and lastly it isn’t made to be understood by everyone at all times. This is why the work of Bart Hess can be described as visual poetry – the post-modern kind. Bart Hess is motivated by surrealism, his fascination for the human body and intriguing material combinations. He uses the functions of the human body as an allegory to describe our relation to the world, and how we’re coping with the fast changing reality; what we see is not what we truly understand.
Hess uses film, animation and photography to fixate his viewers, calm the senses and allure them into his short hypnotizing screenings. Along with the progressive performances that always include distinctive surreal elements in an artisanal minimalistic manner, Hess also emphasizes on the background music choices: intense enough to create a cloud of agony. One of the unique characteristics of his art is the play between darkness and limited-spaced color along with background absence. This way the artist’s scenery is anything but busy, making it almost impossible for us to lose our focus.
Throughout his career, he has collaborated with a series of outstanding artists from all fields, such as Iris van Herpen, Lucy McRae and Walter van Beirendonck, along many more. For his latest collaboration, he’s teamed up with filmmaker Ruth Hogben to create their own take on Punk season for Nick Knight’s SHOW Studio. Bart Hess’s vision unveils itself in many levels in such an artistically impeccable way that he can only be established as one very important progressive artist of his time.