Description
Green red Anemone, Wilfried Grootens, 2023
What is most striking about Petra Hřebačková’s Green red Anemone What is most fascinating about Wilfried Grootens’s Green Red Anemone is how quickly the first impression begins to change. Viewed from the front, the work almost resembles a precisely constructed target or a blossoming eye — a concentric circle with a clearly defined centre, from which a dense fan of delicate red, green and darker lines radiates in every direction. Yet the moment you move around the object, that certainty begins to dissolve. The circular structure shifts, the layers separate from one another, some elements seem to move forward while others recede into depth, and it suddenly becomes clear that you are not looking at an image contained in glass, but at a spatial optical phenomenon.
This is precisely what makes the work so compelling. Wilfried Grootens is not working only with colour and composition, but with the way an image behaves in space. The layered painted glass panels are not merely carriers of the motif; they are the very reason the object comes alive. From one angle, it appears focused, almost hypnotic. From another, it loosens and becomes more restless, fluid and less legible — and therefore even more intriguing. The viewer has the sense of looking at something between a sea anemone, an optical sign and a visual pulse that continually reassembles itself within the glass.
The motif of the anemone remains present here not only descriptively, but emotionally as well. There is a centre around which everything seems to vibrate. Something soft, organic and almost alive is present, yet also something slightly unsettling, because this beauty is not entirely calm. It carries tension within it. The red and green lines do not feel decorative in the conventional sense. Instead, they create an impression of concentrated energy expanding outward while remaining firmly anchored at the centre.
This is precisely what sets the work apart from many other colourful glass objects. It is not a piece created merely to “make an impression.” The visual impact is certainly there — and it is powerful — but it is grounded in structure, discipline and an exceptionally precise handling of layers. The cube, measuring 24 × 24 × 24 cm from the outside, the cube appears completely calm, almost austere. Clean form, precise edges, and polished, ground surfaces. Inside, however, a far more animated world unfolds, and it is precisely this contrast between external discipline and internal pulse that gives the object its strength. It is neither coldly geometric nor excessively organic. It holds itself exactly between the two.
Painted sheet glass, bonded, ground and polished, creates a depth that neither photography nor video can ever fully convey. This is precisely the kind of quality that prevents a strong work from becoming visually exhausted. It does not reveal everything at once. It rewards attention. And the longer you spend with it, the more clearly you realise just how exceptionally precise its construction is.
In an interior, the work will perform exceptionally well where it has some breathing room and access to light. It needs to be experienced from multiple angles, because movement around the object is an essential part of its effect. Displayed on a pedestal or within a collector-oriented setting, it will immediately draw the eye, yet continue to hold meaning over time — and that is an important quality in a work of art.
For the future owner, the particular value of Green Red Anemone lies in the fact that it will not function in an interior as a passive accent of colour. It will act as an object that activates the space. It draws the eye, slows you down, makes you take another step and look again.
Here, Wilfried Grootens once again demonstrates his ability to create a work that is simultaneously an image, a spatial object and an optical experience. Green red Anemone is not a decoration. It is a carefully considered object with an energy that feels precise, vibrant and subtly addictive. That is exactly what gives it such strength both as a collectible work and within an interior. It does not rely on ostentation, but once it captures your attention, it does not let go easily. That is what makes it a work that remains in a space not merely as decoration, but as a genuinely memorable presence.
It is a work for someone who wants more than simply a beautiful object at home — someone looking for a visual presence that will draw them in again and again.
More about the artist >>> here <<<
