° 1958

Born in Brussels (BE), lives in Brussels (BE).

Joëlle Tuerlinckx (°1958) studies in Brussels at the city’s École de Recherche Graphique. Tuerlinckx’ artistic practice can be summed up as a reflection on the fundamentals of art and is rooted in the ideas of Minimal and Conceptual Art. Her restrained works explore the border between being and not-being, something and nothing.

Tuerlinckx creates simple, almost intangible drawings, videos and installations using basic materials like paper, rope and plastic, together with light and colour. She frequently returns to forms and elements that have been art’s basis for centuries: point, line, circle, square and colour. She often works in situ for her exhibitions, allowing the final artwork to be shaped by the architecture of the space. She uses small interventions, actions and gestures to create carefully poised total works, which only crystallise into art through the perception of the beholder.

Tuerlinckx’ starting point is that art works can only arise in the mind of the viewer, who attempts to complete and interpret what he or she is seeing. She reveals these mechanisms by merely suggesting the image with her sober tools, rather than showing it explicitly.