The characters in Nigel Van Wieck’s exhibition ‘Players’ can be grouped in two halves: they are either in recreational pursuit or they are performing, and Van Wieck makes this distinction by placing an accessory on the faces of the performers, ie, sunglasses, makeup or a mask. But although the two groups are very different, they have one thing in common, pleasure.
Van Wieck unites these two worlds with one key painting, “The Magician.” In it we see both the performer and the fantasy, with his young audience enjoying its recreational pursuit. One of the the strengths of Van Wieck’s work is its cinematography, his work is never still, he invites us to continue the narrative.