No time - Deborah de Haas

No time
In her exhibition No Time, Deborah de Haas brings together paintings and drawings in which wit and social engagement hum through the layers of paint. Her idiosyncratic formal language, in which musicality and visual art are purely attuned, speaks for itself.

Maker: Deborah de Haas
With her analytical eye, De Haas captures sharp observations of people and society. "I am analytical by nature," she says. "I was always good at science subjects, and I use that in my work." Her musicality also finds its roots in this: the spirit with which the former classical guitarist once made music now translates into rhythm, tranquillity and theme on canvas. Musical notations and instrument shapes recur regularly in her work. "Sometimes I miss something, and then the six strings of a guitar or the five lines of a stave appear naturally," she says.

This musical imagination, combined with her attention to detail and colour, creates an idiosyncratic melody. The layering of her paintings and the lively touch of her drawings show that time and theme are intertwined in her work. Social commitment is reflected in sharp observations, poignancy and humour. "Humour is important, otherwise you won't get through time," she says. In this way, De Haas balances seriousness and lightness, analysis and expression, an interplay that sounds like the artist, musician and thinker she is.

Experience
No Time is more than an exhibition: it is an experience in which the visitor is taken between stillness and movement. The paintings and drawings unfold as variations on a musical theme, in which lines and colours resonate with each other. De Haas invites you to slow down. In a world that constantly accelerates, No Time forms a place of reflection, attention and wonder, a moment in which watching becomes listening, and silence music.