Les mains

Constantin Nitsche's second exhibition at Xavier Hufkens, "Les mains" (The hands), explores the act of painting as an attempt to grasp the elusive. Drawing inspiration from Franz Kafka, Nitsche describes the process as a continuous layering, revision, and subtraction, where earlier states of a painting often remain as traces beneath the surface. The works, developed in his Marseille studio, resist fixed identities and stable narratives, moving between self-portraiture, still life, and fragments of everyday life, blending observation with invention.

The exhibition features recurring motifs such as plants, interior decor, and domestic objects, altered by memory and repetition. The artist's wife is a central figure, appearing in works like "Les mains" and "La main," which suggest exchange rather than possession. The Mediterranean landscape also features, as seen in "L’horizon (Février)" and "Le Roucas Blanc II." A self-portrait as Pinocchio alludes to the paradox of self-portraiture as an act of construction, referencing James McNeill Whistler's "Nocturne in Black and Gold — The Falling Rocket" and the idea of transience.