Opening the world
Magical realism painters operate within a recognisable world. A landscape may remain intact, as in the work of Peter Doig, yet something in its atmosphere begins to drift. The image does not depart from reality, but alters how it is perceived.
What defines magical realism in painting
Magical realism in painting is often confused with fantasy. In practice, it remains closely tied to the visible world.
The image holds its structure, but introduces a second register:
- scale becomes unstable
- atmosphere carries tension
- presence exceeds function
These shifts do not break the image. They alter its reading.
Meaning is not illustrated. It forms gradually, through the way elements relate within the surface.
no unified style
There is no unified style among contemporary painters working in this field. What connects them is a shared condition:
- the image remains grounded
- meaning is not fixed in advance
- symbolic elements do not resolve into narrative
- the work allows for sustained interpretation
The painting does not explain itself. It holds a structure in which meaning can take shape over time.
Position within this field
Within this context, the work of Leonoor Ruigrok develops through process rather than predefined symbolism.
Figures, animals and architectural elements appear, but are not positioned beforehand. They emerge through the act of painting itself. This places the work within a group of contemporary practices in which intuition, material and movement are not supportive, but generative.
Rather than constructing an image around meaning, the work allows meaning to form within it.
Her position as a contemporary Dutch painter is not defined by subject, but by a way of working in which the image remains open, and does not resolve into a fixed reading.
Process: material, gesture and layered meaning
In many contemporary approaches, magical realism is inseparable from process.
In this context, meaning does not exist prior to the image. It develops through:
- layering, where time becomes visible
- material and gesture, where movement shapes form
- symbolism, where elements gradually take on meaning within the work
These elements do not function as stages. They operate simultaneously.
What appears symbolic is not applied, but formed within the work itself.
an encounter
An open image
The image does not close.
A figure may remain present, yet distant. A space may feel stable, yet unsettled. The visible holds, but does not conclude.
In works such as Michael Borremans’ The Devil’s Dress, the figure appears contained within the image, yet resists full definition.
In The Avoider, this displacement becomes even more pronounced, as the figure withdraws without fully leaving the image.
This openness is not ambiguity as effect. It is structural.
The painting remains active because it does not resolve.
A shift
Magical realism painters do not create another world. They shift the one that is already there.
In that shift, something becomes visible that was not yet articulated.
The image begins where recognition ends.
Explore