André Matthijssens is a photographer in Langdorp and the ideal person for corporate reportages. For a photo shoot at your premises, in the office or at any location, you have come to the right address. André is equipped to set up a mobile, professional studio on location.
In the last millennium, when photography was still more craft than technology, the magic took place mainly in the darkroom, where sepia smelled like a chemistry lesson. With heaps of experience, a cartloadof domestic and foreign assignments and thousands of reportages behind him, photographer André Matthijssens was one of the first to jump on the digital express train. By staying one step ahead of the evolution, he always works with the latest materials and techniques.
His passion, architectural photography, has taken André to Paris, New York, Dubai and Barcelona, but closer to home too he focused on photogenic structures, with spectacular images in Antwerp, Knokke and Aarschot, among others.
Most paintings and photos are offered for sale. The photos come in various sizes and finishes (photo on canvas, on plexiglass or metal). For further information call 0475 / 43 17 12 or mail [email protected]
gum print
gum print
Roland Rens (1952-2007) gum print – through the lens of André Matthijssens
Former NMBS buildings in Leuven
Former NMBS buildings in Leuven
Former NMBS buildings in Leuven
Former NMBS buildings in Leuven
Langdorp
Langdorp
Langdorp
Langdorp from a bird’s-eye view, 5 February 2025
Paris. The building ‘Fondation Louis Vuitton’consists of twelve glass panels bent using techniques from aviation. These panels in turn rest mainly on steel pillars. The building is based on the ‘Grand Palais’ in the centre of Paris. Because of the convex glass panels, the building looks a little like a ship with billowing sails, “although it could also be an ice floe”, according to the architect.
The building of the ‘Fondation Louis Vuitton’ , designed in 2014 by Franck Gehry.
The famous department store ‘La Samaritaine’ in Art Nouveau and Art Deco style.
The exhibition hall ‘Grand Palais’ and the Alexandre III bridge were built for the World Fair of 1900.
The bridge over the Seine ‘Bir-Hakeim’, was built between 1903 and 1905. The lower level is for pedestrians and cyclists. On the upper level runs Paris metro line 6.
During the lockdowns it was the Demer’s turn.
“I followed the course of the Demer from its source in Tongeren to Werchter, where it joins the Dijle. Both rivers flow on together towards Antwerp, where they reach the North Sea via the Scheldt.
Following the Demer was also a bit of a homecoming for me. Just like the Demer, I come from Tongeren, the heart of Limburg, and I found my way to Aarschot, the Pearl of the Hageland. Meandering along or on the Demer, definitely do it!” – André Matthijssens
THE DEMER IN LANGDORP.
Because you belong to the world,
you can lie down in the grass
and watch the clouds. There are
animals in the clouds.
Animals disappear and other
animals appear.
The animals in the clouds drift
with the wind.
Sarah Michaux, poet – philosopher (2021)
DEMER MEETING PLACE IN DIEST,
lies on the Boerenkrijkplein, just outside the city walls of Diest. In the 18th century the cannons were positioned there to defend the town against the advancing enemy. From now on those cannons become places of rest (they are benches) and you can rediscover a long-forgotten view of the Demer and the city walls.
“THE DEMER AND DIEST”
he longs for her dance, her
soft bustle, cyan ballet
the oldest thing he knows
she lies in him, she makes flow
her years in his stones
remembers the roads to his heart
I expect, says Diest, your sweet
mouth, I want to sit on your benches
and watch the wind, she is silent.
and laughs and comes, she keeps flowing Demer through him
I never feel, says Diest, lost
people come to live in me
in your valley I build my home, she is silent
and always points to where she looks,
ahead
he caresses her gold with green bends
uses the tips of his towers
and washes her tears through his
she rustles and paints his soul blue
I set you free, says Diest, but I
do not exist without you tumbled,
she splashes, I shall, she says
never leave you, ever
Thomas Goyvaerts – city poet of Diest 2016-2018
THE DEMER IN LANGDORP.
“Cycle ride along the Demer”
I cycled along the Demer. I remember it
well.
It was the first cycle ride in summer
along the Demer.
I did it
to get to know the land.
The ground on which I would so often put my
feet down. How different it
feels when you cross a border
of wide rivers and polder land.
I also did it because it was a mild
summer evening and the air trembled
like young flowers in the wind.
I pedalled, pedalled, pedalled along water
that carried me along in a narrow stream,
to wherever, with waving reed plumes
on the banks, water plants, wild bushes.
Cows under the broad canopy of a
thick tree looked at me casually
as if they knew no difference.
I cycled along the Demer. Because you
asked me to.
You asked on a warm summer evening
whether I felt like cycling.
I said: Yes. Gladly. I like cycling with you
along water and meadows of this village
because it is you with whom I cycle.
Because you ask me.
Hannie Rouweler, poet
2014 Poems about the Demer (19 poets from the Netherlands and Flanders)
THE DEMER IN ZICHEM.
Handmade flat-bottomed boat from the 19th century. The boat transported, among other things, hay for the royal horses from Zichem to Brussels.
THE DEMER DETAIL BOAT.
THE DEMER.
Artwork that stood along the Demer in 2020 by the sculptor Wilfried De Cock from Rillaar. www.atelier-venustas.be
THE DEMER.
Pater Raskinkade, Aarschot. “Whoever loves this city sees a human being behind every grey facade.” A line from the poem “La ville en Marche” by the Flemish poet Jo Govaerts.
“La ville en marche”
Whoever loves this city
sees behind every grey facade
a human being.
It is not in the most beautiful houses
that the most beautiful lives are lived.
This is what I want to say:
I love this city,
this abandoned, battered, divided one.
I may die before my time
of lung cancer, or knocked down
by a car.
That is not her fault,
but that of those who do not love her enough
to surrender to her at walking pace.
Jo Govaerts (2006)
Aarschot from a bird’s-eye view, 4 February 2025
THE DEMER IN AARSCHOT.
THE DEMER IN WERCHTER.
THE DEMER DETAIL BRIDGE.
THE DEMER IN AARSCHOT.
Langdorp, 10 January 2025
90×120 cm
DETAIL OF THE HOOGBRUG IN AARSCHOT – Triptych
“De Hoogbrug”
Under the Hoogbrug passes the
Demer
and our love,
how must I get used to it,
only after sorrow do you come to know
joy.
Night falls, the bells strike,
the days slip by and I remain.
We leaned over the balustrade
and beneath us,
beneath us flows the water
and what our eyes see cannot be
guessed.
Night falls, the bells strike,
the days slip by and I remain.
Love passes, washes away like the
water,
love washes away,
how slow life is and
how shameful
our expectations are!
Night falls, the bells strike,
the days slip by and I remain. Time passes, the days, weeks, months.
Love and time
cannot be repeated. Under the Hoogbrug the water passes.
Night falls, the bells strike, the days slip by and I remain.
“Le pont Mirabeau” by Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) – translation Jos Houtsma – adapted for the occasion by Pieter to the Hoogbrug in Aarschot.
Detail Rivierenbrug Betekom.
The bridge was named after the lords of Rivieren, who owned a castle south of the location of the bridge.
In August 2017 the bridge became one of the ‘Demerpoorten’ (Demer Gates), five tourist spots along the Demer, on the initiative of the province of Flemish Brabant. The artwork on the bridge represents a toll house.
THE DEMER. boat detail.
THE DROWNED LAND – Demer valley – Langdorp – 1 March 2020
the river, she listens, the river
listens
to the dark of this night
she hears the rustling of grass, of
mice in the grass
who weep just like the roses that
always closed,
bare branches clatter with
bird sorrow
Sarah Michaux, poet – philosopher (2021)
For the reportage Gaudi, André Matthijssens received the culture prize of Aarschot 2006.
Aarschot station:
Former water bottling plant ‘Cristal Monopol‘ in Aarschot:
s’Hertogenmolens:
Bronze statue ‘Demerwachter’ on the Grote Markt in Aarschot by Roland Rens.
Bronze statue ‘De bleiter’ at the town park in Aarschot by Maarten Ceulemans.
REPORTAGE PARIS:
REPORTAGE BERLIN:
REPORTAGE LONDON:
REPORTAGE NEW YORK:
REPORTAGE HONG KONG:
REPORTAGE ROTTERDAM:
REPORTAGE DUBAI:
Out of sympathy:
Frans “De Sheriff” Bellens – Aarschot local character (1945-2009)
“Color Grafie”, a first by the photographer André Matthijssens (2026)
Simply Sublime
acrylic on canvas – 86 x 86 cm with frame
Everything Andréj could paint with was put to use: spatulas, brushes, pipettes, tubes, straws, etc. And with his strumming fingers he played, in his imagination, a sonata in red, green and blue, and he feels completely at home in the universe of abstract expressionism, where the action is not a tool but a goal.
André’s drip paintings go hand in hand with a lot of ‘action’, because sometimes he even throws himself into it body and soul and … a canvas has to lie flat, not stand.
The remuage: Angelo remembered from a visit to Reims that in champagne production a special turning technique (the remuage) is used to remove the remaining yeast deposit. He set to work with that, but because paint dries relatively quickly the intensity of the turning was increased and a watch was kept day and night to make the paint change direction, with a surprising result at times. For André, the recognisability of what is painted, the figurative, is secondary. As long as the dynamics and energy are expressed on the canvas, it is perfect for him. Viewers often asked him, ‘What do you see in this?’ and so his muse was given the task of adding a name and a story to each work. You can also give your own imagination free rein on it, or simply enjoy the pleasant chaos on the canvas
Nostalgic Optimism
acrylic on canvas – wooden frame – 70 x 105 cm
Why does a person want to start painting at 77? Perhaps it was an old dream that had been simmering for a long time… André Matthijssens has been active as a photographer for 55 years. In that time he wrote masterly compositions with light, lighting and colour. As an analogue-trained photographer, the DOKA (darkroom) holds no secrets for him and he knows like no other how chemistry can influence image and colour.
Vibrant pink coral glowing in the clarity of the ocean
acrylic on metal 74 x 74 cm
From writing with light to experimenting with paint is only a small step here.
Embrace the Challenge
acrylic on canvas – framed 86 x 86 cm
Initially it looked more like a re-enactment of the big bang theory, as in ‘paint all over the place’ …. But at lightning speed he mastered several techniques.
Everything he could paint with was put to use: spatulas, brushes, pipettes, tubes, straws, etc. And with his strumming fingers he played, in his imagination, a piano sonata in red, green and blue
The techniques became more refined and the end result got better, even good.
Mother Earth
acrylic + sand on canvas with wooden frame 70 x 105 cm
Meanwhile we wanted to know in which pigeonhole he belonged as a ‘painter’. Google Lens took us without delay to abstract expressionism, where action painting is not a tool but a goal.
Object of Desire
acrylic on canvas – framed 85 x 115 cm
André’s painting with pouring and dripping techniques goes hand in hand with a lot of ‘Action’, because sometimes he even throws himself into it body and soul.
The Cradle of all Life
acrylic on canvas with frame 116 x 127 cm
“Painting is strumming a piano sonata with your fingers in Red, Green and Blue” -André
Floral Splendor
acrylic on canvas – with metal frame 64 x 64 cm
Revival of metal frames. More than 30 years ago André Matthijssens made impressive metal frames. A number of them were still waiting patiently in his archive for something to happen with them.