ALL I SEE IS FREEDOM
Written by Selin Aydinol | October 5, 2021
Plus-One Gallery | Exhibition: Carole Vanderlinden & Carlos Caballero
All I see is freedom.
All I see is the freedom of a painter when I look at Carole Vanderlinden’s work. The satisfaction of the knowledge that she can paint all the things she desires and keeps being inspirational. Visiting her exhibitions for me, is like opening a door which was closed and forgotten for a long time. Reminding me the innate intention of why I wanted to become an artist. It’s no wonder how I cannot but write when I see her artworks. Of course at this rate I must give credit to the space showing and allowing this freedom to be experienced by us. Plus-One Gallery. It can be exhausting to try to meet galleries’ expectations as an artist. If you are an active social media artist then it’s a similar story trying to meet the expectations of the algorithm. Maybe there isn’t any expectation to meet at all but a fine, thick line that shows you your limit. Within the territories of your gallery, you are obliged to do certain things along with that you can only do so much. It’s then the responsibility of the gallery that represents you, to blur that fine line. It seems that the way Plus-One Gallery blurs the line is a good example when it concerns Carole Vanderlinden. Letting the artist be herself and not try to mold her into legislations of traditional galleries, art buyers and other interested parties = Expectations
You can expect the unexpectable when looking at her work. Each has the Vanderlinden’s core element: Confidence
Making choices determines the level of your confidence. During this exhibition, what can be seen is a broad fortune of differences that is bound by her choices. I don’t believe that Vanderlinden is asking similar questions as most of the other artists ask before beginning a new painting. Therefore the choices she has to make differs from those with the wrong or unnecessary questions. Right or on-time questions enabled her to choose to show her confidence in the best way. Making paintings without repercussions. The size, the style, and the technique also makes you wonder who curated this? Which right and on-time question led the curator to choose this combination? Ambition. This show is a mixture of Carole Vanderlinden’s ideals and Plus-One Gallery’s ambitious unexpectations on Vanderlinden. What a beautiful way to read about freedom.
I haven’t read the exhibition text.
I don’t know the dynamics or the ideas behind this collaboration. I can only tell what I observed during my time there. After I saw all the artworks, It seemed that the gallery was divided in two parts. One part for each artist. The reason I excluded my thoughts on Carlos Caballero’s artworks in this text is, because It has been a long time since the last time I saw Vanderlinden’s work in person, which I admire greatly. I was more focused on her part. I needed to be honest with myself. I cannot write about a subject which I couldn’t pay the needed attention to. There is a second thing to admit here as well. I remember an exhibition text I once read a long time ago in Plus-One Gallery. It taught me not to be hasty in reading exhibition texts. I value this teaching.