'We are not talking about the Sex Pistols' presents a recent series of works by Belgian painter Werner Mannaers (1954, Belgium) depicting over 250 compositions with flowers. His gouaches also hold a range of art historical references, which he subsequently links to philosophical quotes or elements from popular culture. Through this ‘sampling’ technique, a multidimensional context is created that allows the artist to cushion the often existential subject matter with irony and humour.

Many years ago, Mannaers, a devoted reader of literature and poetry, started cuting up his own library. In search for words and phrases, he left his book-collection every night with more cut-out holes and scraps of paper lying about. His work intuitively resulted in an amalgam of art-historical, literary and personal references, whereby his method leaves scope for playful associations of motifs, signs and language. Rather than concealing his trial and error working-method, Mannaers exposes this creative process as an essential part of his aesthetic.