Collector's Talk

Wouter Bouvijn & Eva Vanhengel

Wouter Bouvijn is the director of acclaimed series such as De Twaalf and Red Light. In January-February 2023 you could see his eight-part series 1985 on the TV channel één. Eva Vanhengel is a spokesperson for Sven Gatz, Minister of Finance, Budget, Civil Service and Multilingualism in the government of the Brussels-Capital Region. Wouter and Eva fell in love with the work ‘Pyramid of Cherries’ (2022) by Eliza Pepermans. It now adorns their colourful home in Ghent.

Pictures @Liza François

How did you get to know Eliza’s work?

Eva I was introduced to Schönfeld Gallery and Eliza’s work thanks to former VUB rector Caroline Pauwels. I was Caroline’s student, and I worked under her when she was the director of SMIT, a VUB research centre, before we became good friends. Caroline often took me on the road; she more or less introduced me to the world of visual arts. She loved paintings with colours and flowers, and thus we crossed paths with Eliza Pepermans.

Wouter We have quite a few friends who are photographers, so we already had some pictures on our walls, but we had been wanting to add a painting to our ‘collection’ for a long time. Actually, we immediately fell in love with Eliza’s work, but it took a while before we could also get our hands on a painting. Two years after our first acquaintance with Eliza’s work, Greet sent us some available works by email while we were touring California with a campervan. By then, we had fallen so in love with her oeuvre that we chose a work based on that PDF!

Why are you so attracted to her work?

Wouter Because of the playfulness and the colours! The colours of the paintings are also mirrored in our armchair and lamps. Although we were not specifically searching for an artwork for this space, it feels as if the work was made for this corner of our interior. As if we were subconsciously sucked in by the colours. I can just keep on looking at the painting. There’s so much going on, the image seems to be tilting constantly: are they windows or frames on the wall?

Eva Everyone who enters the room has positive things to say about the work. Its southern atmosphere also fits perfectly with our wild and colourful Provençal garden.

Wouter Colour is completely Eva’s thing. Before she moved in, the house was remarkably less colourful.

Eva And yet it is lately you who’s often been opting for more colour! Maybe to compensate for the heaviness of your work?

Wouter Yes, I like the optimistic look. Cheerfulness and humour are important to me. Indeed, perhaps Eliza’s colourful world is an antipode to my own oeuvre. Now, if we would have to live in the colours of 1985, that would be very sad. (laughs)