#axell

The bastardization of oneself

idk lol

Evelyne Axell was a Belgian pop artist known for her politically charged erotic paintings that transcended the boundaries of what was her socio-political reality. 

Born in the 30s and lived through the 60s

She studied pottery after high school then switched to drama, initially beginning a career as an actress. She married Jean Antoine, a film director who specialized in art documentaries for Belgian television…. Now, Axell was not her given name… her given name was Devaux. (father Andre Devaux)... She changed her name to Axell for acting career purposes. She worked as an interviewer in a documentary about avant garde artists, a television announcer, performed in a variety of theatrical and televised plays, and starred in several movies, one being the provocative Le Crocidile en peluche that she wrote herself. 

Side note: she had a baby somewhere in between all of this. I have to make note of that because it’s a reminder of how magnificent women are…

carrying on…

After some time she then quit her career as an actress and went on to pursue painting. 

Not trying to be an encourage-er of quiters… but lets normalize this. Lets normalize changing directions when you are no longer fulfilled or satisfied with what you’re doing.

 I’m assuming Evelyne had a strong desire to create, whatever it was she was supposed to be creating was a journey within itself she was trying to figure out… or maybe it was just about exploring… leaving no stone unturned. 

So, apparently surrealist painter Rene Magritte, was a friend of her husband’s, and she was able to gain him as a mentor. They visited with each other 2 times a month over the course of a year and worked on developing and improving her oil painting technique. 

Evelyne and her husband travelled a lot for work.  On one of these trips she went to London with Antoine while he was putting together a production to spotlight pop artists. She met a few of these artists in their studios and became so influenced and enamored that she started to form her own style of Pop art, being one of the first Belgian artists to explore this style of painting. 

She faced difficulties getting her paintings shown in galleries and in hopes of being taken more seriously as a female artist, she began using the androgenous name Axell professionally.

Like just Axell.. Period. And signing her paintings as Axell.

Her work is an intoxicating mix of art historical- and self-reference, formal originality, and a playful sense of political awareness. She was a protofeminist who was aware of the discrimination of women at that time and was mocking about certain things.

Her signature was the spherical blue glasses that she wore and often showed up in her artworks. She merged herself with a number of figures she depicted.

Her artwork speaks about the body and sensuality, about social limitations, taboos and their transgression in ways that invite the viewer to think outside the traditional borders of their social, political, or religious context. Axell's work is not just pioneering feminist art; it's the "outstanding quality" of it: her striking use of fresh, contemporary colors; her notable application of unusual materials, her surprising use of jutting layers to build highly original works that evade clear definition; and lastly, her refusal to be pinned in by art movements, be it pop or nouveau réalism, or even the surrealism of her one-time teacher Magritte, whose influence is apparent in her early work.

Axell's life was tragically cut short in a fatal accident outside of Ghent, Belgium, in September 1972. However, her legacy lives on, and her final piece, "L’herbe folle," is a testament to her creative brilliance. Axell's art continues to inspire and provoke conversation about social and political issues today.

Credits below: