Both painter and music composer George De Decker is a versatile artist. The composer is inspired by images to create a piece of music, and vice versa, a composition he hears can drive him towards an entire series of paintings. In his large studio De Decker constantly listens to music during the creation of a new series of paintings. Each artwork is both individually conceived and a part of a whole. Besides painting and musical compositions George De Decker makes sculptural projects, video and sound installations.
The artist prefers to work in series. Music as a mosaic of sound and text inspires the artist to create images of 'silent noise' on canvas. Giving a musical or literary sensation an equivalent in a painterly medium recalls the concept of synesthesia and could explain De Decker's drive toward abstraction. The often literary titles of his works - consistently quoted in their original language - are selected with the greatest subtlety, and reveal his high sensitivity for poetry and literature.
His painterly work shows resemblance with lyrical expressionism, although he has no intention to express his own mental state by his gestural brush work or by abundant coloration. He translates the music pieces and related texts into abstract imagery with a rather monochrome palette that highlights his feel for multiple layers.
George De Decker (°1951 Asse, Belgium) is a visual artist and composer who lives and works in Sint-Katelijne-Waver. He studied piano, composition and art history at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp and Brussels, electronic music at IPEM in Ghent and painting in Anderlecht. Besides solo work (mainly with sound tape) and works for a large symphonic orchestra and sound installations, he also composed music for film, television and theatre. As from 2008 his paintings have featured in many solo, duo and group exhibitions in Belgium and The Netherlands. De Decker also created large mixed media installation projects including 'Ørnen 1897' (2013), a gigantic wooden zeppelin installation in which he combined fine art, music and film and 'Le bruit de la pensée' (2014), permanent site-specific installation works for the prison complex in Leuze-en-Hainaut (BE) consisting of 4 sculptures, a large stained glass and 2 paintings. In 2016 he founded the music ensemble SP!TSBERGEN. His latest composition Wit in Wit Goldberg Variations Revisited (2019) is released on CD and in the near future it will be performed by pianist Geert Callaert in several concert halls.