Ellen De Meutter alters her viewer's reality by presenting a language in which she classifies the figures, shapes and colors from her personal world into a captivating utopia. Contrary to current trends in Flemish art, De Meutter is not simply relaying an anecdote; she composes unique imagery that allows her to experiment with the placement of the subject and unique treatments of her medium. De Meutter's repertoire of vivid, semi-neon colors contrast the muted grays blacks and grays on which they lay. These seemingly energetic colors are at once enhanced by the dark undertones of the canvas below, while simultaneously insinuating a concealed gravity of subject. Belgian art critic and curator, Luk Lambrecht remarks on De Meutter's painting: "she folds back 'her' world onto itself, into a solid mass of color from which, very slowly, vague contours emerge, which safeguard our expectations about looking at an image." De Meutter's scenes are reminiscent of schoolyard games, incorporating a series of text and symbols. By combing figurative imagery with basic abstraction, Ellen De Meutter creates wildly successful compositions that allude to her comprehensive understanding of contemporary painting.
