Exhibition Pelt in Zènne Nakse
- 2012

From 2 December 2012 to 4 January 2013, Dries Peeten was invited to CC Palethe with his cartoon exhibition 'Pelt in zènne nakse - Overpelt in zijn blootje'. As an 18-year-old, he was asked by the Cultural Office of Overpelt to get to work with approximately fifty expressions in the local dialect. For this exhibition, Dries drew and painted humorous scenes with social and political subjects related to Overpelt as a common thread. The exhibition was very successful and welcomed more than 2500 visitors.

Making-of

During the summer holidays of 2012, Dries drew full-time in order to complete all cartoons in time. The drawings are very detailed and full of winks to daily life in the township of Overpelt. He used different techniques for each cartoon: water colour or charcoal, pen and ink drawings. For each drawing, Dries decided which material would serve the subject the best. He used surfaces of different sizes and both wet and dry techniques.

Sketchbook

Dries found inspiration in the expressions themselves. The Overpelt dialect contains a lot of authenticity and humour. Moreover, the township was also in an election year. For instance, the new traffic lights on the Ringlaan are reflected in his drawings, as well as the relocation of the kiosk on the market square. For the latter cartoon, Dries was inspired by 'The Volga Boatmen' by the Russian painter Ilya Repin. In this painting, a group of workers is forced to pull a boat ashore. As a parody, Dries drew a satirical cartoon in which the college of aldermen pulls the kiosk forward at the mayor's command.