"Facing the blank canvas, is like a boxer entering the ring. There is only focus and eruptive energy."
Eric Mangen (b. 1983) is a Luxembourg-based abstract artist. His approach towards abstraction is deeply rooted in graffiti, to which he became drawn in the late 1990's. Eric's materials are marked by controllable, and uncontrollable tools - brushes, spray cans, fire extinguishers, oilsticks, solvants. His compositions are marked by destruction, reduction, and redesign. In the artist's spontaneous aproach there is always a fragile line between controlling the accident and and the actual accident. The artist's powerful and gestural approach to painting stands in close relation to action painting and generates a dynamic and rhythmic yet poetical and sculptural body of work. Mangen's works are greatly influenced by external stimuli and his studio environment. This can strongly be seen in the series he produces abroad, releasing an unrestrained flow in him. During his travels and residencies, these stimuli permeate his work and allow for the artist to reinvent himself continuously.