{"id":49083,"date":"2024-08-02T12:58:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T12:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/miel-deca-1920-1980\/"},"modified":"2024-08-02T12:58:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T12:58:00","slug":"miel-deca-1920-1980","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/en\/miel-deca-1920-1980\/","title":{"rendered":"Miel Deca (1920-1980)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Golgotha<\/em><\/strong>, Aarschot <\/em>1978<\/span><\/p>\n

90 x 80 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

Golgotha is the name of the hill outside the walls of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified. \u00a0Golgotha means place of the skull. \u00a0In Lent it is called Mount Calvary.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

75 x 90 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Untitled.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on metal<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

80 x 100 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Origin of the worlds<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/strong>, Aarschot 1977<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

come, breathe calmly <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

now that we finally know where cosmic radiation comes from<\/span><\/p>\n

is it strange that we are no more afraid than before<\/span><\/p>\n

we hear the sky above us creak<\/span><\/p>\n

feel how the black hole pulls at our limbs<\/span><\/p>\n

at what circles in slow air <\/span><\/p>\n

at what glides through lonely water<\/span><\/p>\n

come, settle your body on this restless earth<\/span><\/p>\n

stare at the riddle of the darkness and know<\/span><\/p>\n

the wolf herring swims in you<\/span><\/p>\n

the crane flies in you<\/span><\/p>\n

yet you fall so easily out of every mome<\/span>nt<\/span><\/p>\n

come, unfold your fin-wings<\/span><\/p>\n

and conjure fire anew out of nothing<\/span><\/p>\n

SARAH MICHAUX<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

90 x 100 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Untitled.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on metal<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

100 x 80 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Untitled<\/em><\/strong>, Aarschot <\/em>1970 <\/span><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

Poem by Sarah Michaux:<\/span><\/p>\n

We forget that we are constantly falling apart<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

We try to keep order, to lay our body within lines<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

to let our heart pound just enough that it does not jump out of our<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

bodies. \u00a0We look in mirrors and dim the light. \u00a0We dim.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dawn whispers the promise that today is the day on which<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

we will make a discovery, every evening we forget how <\/em><\/p>\n

to fall apart again.<\/em><\/p>\n

We would rather be a cortex of brain in electric water <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

with something that feeds us pleasures so that we think<\/em><\/p>\n

we taste something, for ever the most beautiful delusions.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sarah <\/strong><\/em><\/span>Michaux<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1970<\/span><\/p>\n

1970<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Untitled.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

88 x 100 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Untitled.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on metal<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“DO NOT LOOK ONLY WITH YOUR EYES, BUT LOOK WITH YOUR HEART TOO.” – <\/em><\/strong><\/span>Miel Deca <\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

– <\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Untitled.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

His art is marked by the search for new forms of expression. \u00a0The materiality of the work and its presence in space gain in importance. \u00a0Contrasts such as heaviness and lightness, fullness and emptiness, hardness and softness characterise the often abstract objects.<\/span><\/p>\n

The energy expended in the process is conserved, but changes its form.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Untitled.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

90 x 80 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

The circus<\/strong><\/em>, Aarschot (1967)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Merry-go-round.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

70 x 80 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Boats.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

80 x 70 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Boats.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

80 x 70  cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Vase with flowers.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n


\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

80 x 70 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Vase with flowers<\/strong><\/em>, Aarschot (1970)<\/span><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Emiel<\/a><\/p>\n

Still life with flowers.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

80 x 70 cm  <\/span><\/p>\n

Flower vase<\/em><\/span><\/strong>, Aarschot (1970)<\/span><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

70 x 80 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Still life.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

80 x 90 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Still life<\/em><\/span><\/strong> (1977)<\/span><\/p>\n

acrylic on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

 (1977)<\/span><\/p>\n

 (1977)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

80 x 90 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Heath.<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

acrylic <\/span>with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe result of his technique is a torrent of bright, life-loving Southern and Pallieterian colours. \u00a0<\/span>Not infrequently they come at the viewer like a ballet of light, like a splashing water display.\u201d – <\/em><\/span>Dr. phil. Paul Kempeneers (1972)<\/span><\/p>\n


\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Landscape.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

70 x 80 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Landscape<\/em><\/span><\/strong>, Aarschot 1971<\/span><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

Miel Deca, titular professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Aarschot, is the painter of the <\/span>Hage<\/span>land. \u00a0His love of colour is innate. \u00a0Form and content always coincide in strength and spontaneity. \u00a0His work is post-expressionist, with an always strongly closed unity, rich in colour, life-affirming and full of temperament.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

70 x 80 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Winter landscape.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Three pollard willows.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

Interpreter of inner passion.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll his life Miel Deca has been a quiet man who works conscientiously. \u00a0His stoic calm could be explained as resignation or phlegm, but in truth he is a man consumed by a passionate fire to reach the highest and to achieve the best.\u201d” – <\/em><\/span>Staf Van Gelder,writer<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

80 x 70 cm<\/p>\n

Langdorp.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\""Dorpje"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

80 x 100 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Little village.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

90 x 80 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Langdorp.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

One thing is certain: \u201cFor Aarschot, Deca is the inevitable, the indispensable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

80 x 100 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe blazing of your colour\u00a0<\/em>even in black<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

bears the stamp of your <\/em>impetuous heart which <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

at its own rhythm sows love <\/em>across the surface in <\/em>threefold: <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

warmth for the eye\u00a0<\/em>friendship for the wonder of <\/em>creation, \u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

one sound with <\/em>fellow human beings and nature.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You stand in the middle of it and look <\/em>until the absurd gives way and you <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

patiently manage to capture what <\/em>has for ages been called beauty.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The drifting of your knife on colour\u00a0<\/em>holds within it wonder and<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

rising above the routine of <\/em>everyday insignificance.\u201d –\u00a0<\/em><\/span>Freek Dumarais\u00a0poet – teacher of visual arts \u00a0(1974)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The village of Tielt-Winge in Flemish Brabant.<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMiel Deca does not apply paint by means of the traditional paintbrush. \u00a0He does that only for the base layer, which consists of a dark surface of brown, mauve and even black. Then he covers the canvas with a palette knife, so that the painting is built up with sweeps, with large planes of colour, with broad stripes that reflect the artist’s deeper impressions.\u201d –\u00a0<\/em><\/span>Dr. phil. Paul Kempeneers<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 – <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

.” – <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

80 x 90 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

150 x 200 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Autumn.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese trees that speak… \u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Dreams arise in a mind that is not quite human, but rather resembles a whisper of nature.\u201d <\/strong>–  <\/strong>Carl Gustav Jung<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

80 x 70 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Little village.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an infernal voice in you\u00a0<\/em>that commands your palette<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

to steal the sparkling hues<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

to create\u00a0<\/em>a minuet of colours.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

There is a hand in you\u00a0<\/em>that digs incessantly\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

towards the deepest graves of your heart<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

an expedition towards the light.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You sought the early morning valley\u00a0<\/em>but found a rugged rock.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Build your house there out of planes\u00a0<\/em>and quench your tormenting thirst<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

at the eternal source of colour.\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/em><\/span>Gie Luyten, editor of art magazines, presenter at the BRT (Belgian Radio and Television), \u00a0(1977)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The farmer’s wife.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

80 x 90 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

The wood.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Winter.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

70 x 80 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Winter.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

acrylic with palette knife on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

50 x 60 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

View of the village.<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

40 x 60 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

Farm.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a boy of about six he was already taking lessons at the drawing school of Aarschot. \u00a0He lived in Gelrode and walked a few kilometres to the drawing school and back twice a week. \u00a0He had no bicycle. \u00a0You got one then for your solemn communion if your parents were well off. \u00a0Those were exceptions. \u00a0Later Miel’s parents moved to the centre of Aarschot and it became easier for him to attend drawing school.\u201d<\/span> – <\/span><\/em>Elza Deca Dehond <\/span><\/strong>(1924-2006)<\/span>  – <\/span><\/strong>\u00a0wife<\/span><\/p>\n

“<\/span>(1924-2006)  – <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

(1924-2006)  – <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

60 x 40 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

on panel<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

50 x 60 cm<\/span><\/p>\n

on panel<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Miel<\/a><\/p>\n

Le Lavandou<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Miel Deca organised holidays for people from Aarschot to the south of France!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Night without day – last work.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

felt-tip pen on paper<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite his illness, Miel Deca still wielded the pen and pencil until two weeks before his death. \u00a0His last two drawings were trees in black and white. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of his rules of thumb: Trees die standing<\/strong>, also applied to himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a moment in life, when one has worked a great deal, when the forms come by themselves, the paintings come by themselves, one does not need to bother about them! Everything comes by itself. \u00a0Death too.\u201d \u00a0 –\u00a0<\/span>Andr\u00e9 Malraux<\/strong> (1974)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

EMIEL DECA<\/strong><\/span>  (1920 – 1980)<\/span><\/p>\n