Projects
Bolero, an international art project on the move
Archive – Jean De Groote in Parbleu
Archive – The first exhibition – Paul Bartels at Zebra
Spot #3 – Confinage Galerie
Expo #1 – Hantu
Kerminy – a new meeting place for research residencies on agriculture and art
Currer Bell College
News
Leonardo Reviews – La cathédrale de Monet by Yadegar Asisi
Yadegar Asisi in front of his panorama. In this month’s Leonardo Reviews I discuss the XXL Panorama-project for the Normandie Impressioniste Festival in Rouen by Yadegar Asisi. Different to other current largescale projections of artists such as Van Gogh or Klimt, Yadegar Asisi, a specialist in panorama painting, has performed in-depth artscience research into the work of Monet and his panorama is the blown-up result of his own painting. Find the full review here.
Pierre Mertens – a contextual artist in confrontation
Bureau Doove is extremely happy to welcome Belgian artist Pierre Mertens as one of its affiliated artists. Pierre Mertens is a contextual artist who combines art and activism in his activities as an artist, psychotherapist and development partner, a combination which relates strongly to Bureau Doove’s attention to care. Strongly affected by the short life of his daughter Liesje (1978-1989), who suffered from hydrocephalus and spina bifida, Mertens has developed an extraordinary oeuvre since the late eighties in which he’s obsessed by the tension between the masses and the individual. His work… Read More
Bolero, an international art project on the move
It’s my immense pleasure to announce that I’ve been asked to be the curator of the 10th-anniversary edition of the nomadic project Bolero, an international art project on the move. Named after Ravel’s musical composition for its accelerating movement (here in my favourite version by Frank Zappa), the project was initiated in 2010 by the artists Frank JMA Castelyns, Willo Gonnissen, Pierre Mertens en Mulugeta Tafesse as an answer to an ever more global art world. The principles have always been very simple, travelling light in a suitcase with relatively little means…. Read More
Le film sans fin
The wonderful ‘Le film sans fin‘ or ‘The film without end‘ by Ollivier Moreels and Jean-Louis Vincendeau is build on the never-ending and always inspiring theme of the encounter, in the region of Saint-Nazaire. The project has now its own facebook page on which you can follow its development. In their statement on the film Moreels and Vincendeau explain: The film without end plays with professional and amateur artists, actors and poets in our Loire territory, which offers us amazing filming locations and grounds for exploration. It is written in pairs or… Read More
Archive – Jean De Groote in Parbleu
In November 1990, almost at the beginning of his career, Jean De Groote exhibited at Parbleu his project “Chair in Time II – No Observer – No Object”. The first part had been shown in the Triennial for Contemporary Art ‘Van Stof tot Asse’, organised by Jan De Smedt. Just as in the first part a chair played a central part, but it could have been any other object. It was a way to explore spatiality and representation. As I wrote at the time: Observation keeps fascinating De Groote. Observation is not… Read More
Archive – Kris Van Dessel at Parbleu
Early in 1992, Belgian artist Kris Van Dessel presented his so-called Isolation Project in Parbleu. 28 years later it resonates eerily with our current times. I asked how the project connects with his current work in which he amongst others curates sound works online in BO>><<. Van Dessel wrote a text which you can read on the dedicated page for his exhibition here. Photos Stefan Dewickere
Archive – “Il faut cultiver notre jardin…”, Johan Rottiers and company at Parbleu
In autum 1992 we organised an in my view still very topical installation by the Belgian artist Johan Rottiers in collaboration with the garden architects Koen Janssens and Patrick ‘t Hooft as well as artist Georges Uittenhout. Together they considered the gallery space as a possible garden for the artist and a starting point to ask questions about the role of the artist and art in society, the role of artistic activity for the artist, the meaning of producing art, the meaning of exhibiting in a (non-commercial) space as Parbleu, the… Read More
Projet Malraux
The Project Malraux is an art initiative that resulted from the theory of art course dedicated to the Artist as Curator and Participative Art, taught by me at ESADHaR Rouen for the 4th year MA. Inspired by various participative art projects by international artists such as those by Dora Garcia, Thomas Hirschhorn, Melanie Manchot, Ernesto Neto, Lucy + Jorge Orta, or Jeanne Van Heeswijk, the students developed several participative projects as a reflection on the course to be shown at the Centre André Malraux, Rouen. Faced by the Covid-19 virus in spring… Read More
Leonardo Reviews – Habiter en oiseau
Wrote another review for Leonardo, this time on Vinciane Despret‘s Habiter en oiseau. In this weird time, listening to birds communicating with each other and the world around them is more important than ever. Read my review here.
