JAN MULDER

Jan Mulder: "The title of the four paintings, ‘Meridian’, subtitled‘(20-01), North, South, East, West’ was inspired by Celan’s 1960 poetry speech, ‘Der Meridian’. As I see it, this lecture is a passionate plea for art, as the perpetual elixir of life that moves, that contradicts, and precisely for that reason always survives. A plea for an ultimate, perhaps sublimely individual existence.

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In Celan’s poetry and poetics, the motif of palmistry and lifelines play an important role, the lines of the palm relating to geographical meridians and the meridians of the body. Palm lines and fault lines can also be seen in the perspective of his life journey.

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(Source: Paul Sars, 'Alles is te zwaar omdat het te licht is'. De brieven van Paul Celan aan Diet Kloos-Barendregt - 'Everything is too heavy, because everything is too light' Paul Celan's letters to Diet Kloos-Barendregt)