Danny BergemanThe Zandberg Drawing

Pier Vittorio Aureli’s selection for his storefront.

Berheman’s monumental drawing consists in albums filled with iterations of motives taken from the urban landscape. Yet there is nothing diaristic here, he draws motives one after the other as if he were writing with pictograms. I must say that when I saw this drawing I was so impressed that I thought it is the most radical artistic thing I’ve seen in ages. This book is a masterpiece!

“The Zandberg Drawing is the silent, loyal and monumental witness of the sustained and painstaking work of Danny Bergeman (°1960, Izegem). In September 2011, Bergeman first set pencil to paper in an A3 sketchbook while on holiday in France. He started to draw small, precise and recognisable motifs that he observed, such as the façade of a house, a roof, and so on. Back in Belgium, he continued to work in his sketchbook in the De Zandberg art workshop in Harelbeke, albeit that his drawings were now based on his observation and interpretation of reproductions and images in (art) books, catalogues and magazines. Over time he filled all the pages in his sketchbook with an almost endless array of abstract shapes, that were derived from the images in these books. Eight years later, Danny declared that the work was finished when he arrived on the last page. The Zandberg Drawing now offers everyone the opportunity to follow Bergeman’s drawing project, which took several years to complete, in chronological order and in its entirety. The book challenges us, both as a reader and a spectator, confronting us with the sustained effort and wordless yet magnificent visual art achievement of an unassuming man who set himself a formidable goal.”