Eric Mangen (b. 1983) lives and works in Luxembourg.

 

Known for his large-scale, abstract, dynamic and colorful canvas works, Eric Mangen surprises with his new series of works called ‘Fruit Loops’. The series was completed during a residency in Berlin in March 2021 along two other new series of works.

 

The ‘Fruit Loops’ series consists of a stylized and ultra-contemporary representation of the classic genre of the still life. The artist leaves the question open as to whether his painted still lifes are fruits and vegetables, sex toys or inflatables. Mangen’s usual power and dynamic brushstrokes remain, only somewhat calmer and more structured. This results from the fact that the artist made preparatory sketches on paper for this series, which he usually never does. 

 

 

Eric Mangen is a luxembourgish artist whose approach towards abstraction is deeply rooted in graffiti to which he became drawn in the late 1990s. The artist, materials and the motif view each other as equal partners who have set themselves tasks. The composition of the motif is followed by its destruction, reduction or redesign. The artist’s powerful, abstract and gestural approach to painting, which is very much about movement and energy and in close relation to action painting, generates a dynamic and rhytmic yet poetical and sculptural body of work. In the artist’s practice there’s a constant conflict between controllable tools like spray cans or brushes and uncontrollable tools like his fire extinguisher, extra large spray cans and solvants. In Mangen’s spontaneous approach there is always a fragile line between controlling the accident and the actual accident.