Philip Meersman

There Is Blue Somewhere opens on an ocean teeming with humanity and its various waste products. This surreal vista that Philip Meersman paints is 'Mare Nostrum': a mirror image of the mess we have created. Over fat mountains, across a Mediterranean filled with hopeless life-rafts, and through dronefilled war-zones, crowds of beggars, and swarms of social media influencers, no human foible escapes Meersman's caustic, socially conscious gaze.

The extraordinary work of poet Philip Meersman is well known in his native Belgium and throughout Western Europe. His work has been described as "overwhelming and wonderful" with a style that permits the concept of an international language underlying his strong antiwar stance. With This Is Belgian Chocolate, Meersman's work is at last collected and presented in a gorgeous volume for a wider audience. Visual poems receive typographic treatments reminiscent of the work of Russian constructivist typographer El Lissitzky. With frequent humorous touches, the work flows across the page in a thoroughly enjoyable, original style. Meersman translates sound into verse and verse into sound, creating an incredible experiential form that is a pleasurable, immersive read.