In René Daniëls’ enigmatic canvas Pass in Review, two figures are engaged in an obscure conversation. The male, who carries a sort of funnel on his head, is attached by the back to an umbilical-type cord which is being sliced through by a giant pair of scissors. This can be interpreted as an apt summary of Daniëls’ mentality: let the past pass in review, but prepare for a new start.

Daniëls has been relinquishing the luxurious use of paint that involved his earlier work in a whirl of exuberant action. While he has been applying his brilliant colors more sparingly for some time, they are now even