The paintings of Lily de Bont (Ulvenhout, 1958) are both a destruction and a reconstructed alternative to the archetypical painting. De Bont attacks the painting head-on by cutting the canvas to pieces, removing it from the stretcher as an act of reversed weaving. Whereas she initially stiffened the damaged canvas with plaster or epoxy, in recent years the canvas has remained supple. Armed with a scalpel, she carefully dissects the canvas like an accomplished pathologist. The unraveled threads hang down loosely and change the overall appearance, including the dimensions when the work is tilted or draped differently. The wooden stretcher, if present, is exposed like a skeleton. In other work, the slats become independent and are further dissected by means of what she calls amputations. Finally, the canvas can also do without a frame. Here her work touches on the principles of the French Supports/Surfaces artists. It is the "preparation" of the canvas, the reduction, that further deepens the theme of "Beauty and destruction" and exposes unprecedented possibilities.
She herself says about her working method: "With the unraveling of the threads, I discovered that a fabric is actually a grid. By using the grid for precisely positioning the paint, the composition, I have infinite possibilities and more control over the result. By cutting the linen loose between the painted parts, I hand over part of it to gravity. This inevitable force becomes visible in the work. The painted parts themselves, hold the linen together and are now the constructive element of the work. That which was previously done by the stretcher bars".
In the most recent works, there is no longer a distinction between a front and a back. De Bont paints both sides of the canvas. The works are hung at right angles to the wall like flags on metal constructions. One side is the mirror image of the other. The work is both extremely flat and extremely spatial. Far away and unexpectedly close to what we usually expect from a painting.
Lily de Bont (NL) lives and works in Rotterdam. She graduated with honors from the Sint Joost Academy in Den Bosch in 1989. She received the "Lucas Prijs" and the "Jan Hoet prijs" and was nominated by Jan Hoet for Documenta IX. Recent exhibitions include NL=US Gallery (Rotterdam/ New York, NL/USA), VOLTA (New York, USA), Furnace Gallery (Falls Village Ct USA), Artphy (Onstwedde, NL), Sebastian Fath Contemporary (Mannheim, DE), Transmitter (New York, USA), Art Taichung (Taiwan), Bug 2 Gallery, (Tainan, Taiwan).

莉莉・德邦特 (烏爾文豪特, 1958) 的畫作既是對原型繪畫的破壞又是重建的替代品。 德邦特通過將畫布切成碎片,將其從畫框上取下,作為一種反向編織的行為,正面攻擊了這幅畫。 雖然她最初用石膏或環氧樹脂加固損壞的帆布,但近年來帆布一直保持柔軟。 她手持手術刀,像一位經驗豐富的病理學家一樣仔細地解剖畫布。 散開的線鬆散地垂下並改變了整體外觀,包括當作品傾斜或以不同方式懸垂時的尺寸。 木製畫框(如果有的話)像骨架一樣暴露在外。 在其他作品中,線條變得獨立,並通過她所謂的截肢術進一步解剖。 最後,畫布也可以沒有框架。 在這裡,她的作品觸及了法國 Supports/Surfaces 藝術家的原則。 正是畫布的「準備」、還原,進一步深化了「美與毀滅」的主題,暴露出前所未有的可能性。

她自己談到她的工作方法:「隨著線的解開,我發現織物實際上是一個網格。通過使用網格來精確定位油漆、構圖,我擁有無限的可能性,並對結果有更多的控制。 通過剪掉塗漆部分之間的亞麻布,我將它的一部分交給重力。這種不可避免的力量在作品中變得可見。塗漆部分本身將亞麻布固定在一起,現在是作品的建設性元素。 以前是由擔架桿完成的。」

在最近的作品中,不再有前後之分。 德邦特在畫布的兩面作畫。 這些作品與牆壁成直角懸掛,就像金屬結構上的旗幟。 一側是另一側的鏡像。 這件作品既非常平坦又非常有空間感。 很遠又出乎意料地接近我們通常對一幅畫的期望。

莉莉‧德邦特(荷蘭)在鹿特丹生活和工作。1989年。她獲得了「盧卡斯獎」和「揚・霍特獎」,並被揚・霍特提名參加第九屆卡塞爾文獻展。最近的展覽包括NL=US畫廊(鹿特丹/紐約,荷蘭/美國)、VOLTA(紐約,美國)、Furnace畫廊(福爾斯村,美國康涅狄格州)、Artphy(翁斯韋德,荷蘭)、Sebastian Fath Contemporary(曼海姆,德國)、Transmitter(紐約,美國)、台中藝術博覽會(台灣)、虫二藝術(台南,台灣)。

Lily de Bont
莉莉・德邦特
Education:
1983-1984 Free Academy, The Hague
1984-1989 Royal Academy of Art and Design, Den Bosch, Cum Laude 
1986-1990 Institute of Architecture, Utrecht

Prizes/Stipendia
1989 Lucas Prize, Royal Academy of Art and Design, Den Bosch 
1989 Jan Hoet Prize, Royal Academy of Art and Design, Den Bosch
1990 Startstipendium Fund BKVB

Exhibitions (selection)
1989 Centraal Beheer, Apeldoorn
1990 'Facade show', Ateliers Den Bosch Centrum (solo)
1990 ‘Kissing Objects', library, Den Bosch (solo)
1990 ‘Sweet Environment’ Performance, Art Route De Pijp, Amsterdam 
1990 ‘Golden golf ball‘, Performance-Act, Sarphatipark, Amsterdam
1990 ‘Corner piece’ Gallery Brinkman, Amsterdam (solo)
1990 Gallery Yvonne Scheper, Haarlem
1991 ‘Canto ostinato’ Gallery Brinkman, Amsterdam 
1991 ‘Bontwerken’ Gallery Yvonne Scheper, Haarlem (solo)
1997 District office, Breda
1998 Art Route 'Het Oude Noorden’, Rotterdam
1999 'Bij Mij', The Hague (solo)
2001 ‘Lof der zotheid’, Architectenbureau Queeste, The Hague (solo)
2002 Art center Delft
2009 ‘Lily de Bont’ DOK, Delft (solo)
2019 ‘It's a small world after all’, Sebastian Fath Contemporary, Mannheim (D)
2019 ‘RNOP’, Acec, Apeldoorn
2019 ‘More and Less’, Gallery NL=US art, duo show with Jan Maarten Voskuil, Rotterdam
2021 ’Painter’s flight’, Art Centre Artphy, Onstwedde
2021 ‘Material Mutations part I, groupshow Gallery Transmitter, New York, (USA)
2021 ‘The treasury’, Gallery NL=US art, Rotterdam
2021 ‘Counterpart’, Art Centre Provincial house Noord-Holland, groupshow with artists representing the provence of Zuid-Holland, Haarlem
2022 ‘Re-canvassed’, Gallerie NL=US art, Rotterdam
2022 ‘Art Rotterdam’, art fair, Gallery NL=US art, Rotterdam
2022 Big Art, Hembrugterrein Amsterdam
2022 Sharing your pulse’, Kunstplatform De Apotheek, Amsterdam
2023 #101, Gallerie NL=US art, Rotterdam 
2023 Volta, art fair, New York (USA)

Assignments and other activities
1990 ‘Up and down kiss 115 kilometers’, commissioned by Dutch railways, commuter trajectory Utrecht- Amsterdam
2008 'Happy Man', participation floating statues on the river The Rotte, Municipality of Rotterdam
2009 Participation in education program for primary and secondary schools Delft e.o. Art CentreDelft and V.U. Delft
2010-2017 Art advisor and curator, Art Center and library DOK DelftWork in private, corporate and public collections in The Netherlands, Germany and USA 

Representing Gallery: Gallery NL=US art, Rotterdam, The Netherlands