Brussels Art Guide - December

I.

Exhibition: Jean Glibert. Peintre en bâtiment
Artist:   Jean Glibert
Venue: Bozar
Dates:  Until January 7th, 2018

Since the late 1960s the painter Jean Glibert (Brussels, 1938) has pursued a creative logic in his work that is close to that of the architect. From the method of finalizing the designs through to completion and reception by the client, his work displays the same principal characteristics. Like an architect, he too works on the constructive image of the environment. Push and pull, stresses and rhythms… are all present in his work. 

II.

Exhibition: Gilbert & George, The beard pictures
Artists:  Gilbert & George
Venue: Albert Baronian Gallery
Dates: Until December 23rd, 2017

Albert Baronian exclusivley presents in Belgium, Gilbert & George's very last series of works. This production approaches with humor and impertinence the phenomenon of beard as a sign of the times.

III.

Exhibition: Paul Wackers, Parts of everything that are pieces of everything are all around us
Artist:  Paul Wackers
Venue: Alice Gallery
Dates: Until January 26th, 2018

In these paintings of shelves, windows, and interior landscapes, forms range from non-representational layers of abstract paint to discernible objects. While Wackers creates an illusionistic construction of space with subtle angles and perspectival lines defining depth, a physical dimensionality is built through varying levels of paint application.  

Take a tour with Jacinthe in Brussels to discover more!
 

Insider Tips for Collecting Contemporary Art

Our local guide in Brussels, Jacinthe Gigou, does not consider herself a collector and yet she has many insights about finding and purchasing art that uplifts and inspires. Explore the pieces she has personally selected to surround herself with and learn why they are significant to her. 

Image: © Morgane Delfosse

What is your personal philosophy when it comes to collecting art for yourself?

I am not a collector, I just like to have some pieces around me in my daily life. I have always been fascinated by art, even more so by artists. Owning one of their pieces also evokes for me their personality or a memory shared with them. Art uplifts and inspires me.

Can you tell us about one of your favorite pieces you have collected?

There are several I like a lot. They often touch on themes of time and disappearance. 

1. I like vanities and their representations, making permanent something ephemeral. The graffiti artist Steve Locatelli, from Antwerp, paints skulls and crossbones more than anything else. This one almost taunts us with its smile, but it is brightened up by the vivid colours and the roses that surround it and comprise it. I think it is beautiful, it calms my fears, haha!

Work by Steve Locatelli. Image © Morgane Delfosse

2. Here is a piece by Léopoldine Roux, from Brussels, who often bases her work on old documents, in this case a postcard of a forest in Beirut onto which she has painted a host of coloured dots. It has a strange beauty; the perspective makes it almost architectural. 

Work by Léopoldine Roux. Image: © Morgane Delfosse

3. Piotr has a way of depicting skies and nature which evokes the great Classical painters for me. The materials he paints on can be very unusual everyday things, in this case a vinyl record painted on one side.

Work by Piotr. Image: © Morgane Delfosse

4. This ceramic piece by Evor, from Nantes, is a sort of neo-rock, somewhere between a meteorite and an organic shape. I love ceramics because it reveals the void.

Work by Evor. Image: © Morgane Delfosse

5. This photo by Michel François, from Brussels, shows a detail of a book being passed from one hand to another. It was taken in Cuba in the aftermath of a hurricane. The hurricane’s victims are hurriedly recovering some of their belongings amid the wreckage of their homes. Saving a book is a very powerful symbol.

Work by Michel François. Image: © Morgane Delfosse

What is your advice for other contemporary art collectors today?

Follow young artists and creators.

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this series with our other local guides.

Take a tour with Jacinthe to learn more about her taste and contemporary art in Brussels!

Brussels Art Guide - October

I.

Exhibition title: Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Urban Projects
Artists:  Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Venue: ING Art Center
Dates:  October 25th, 2017 to February 25th, 2018

To evoke a number of urban projects by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the exhibition explores a careful selection of around eighty original works, whether or not these were ever carried out, ranging from Wall of Oil Barrels (Rue Visconti, Paris, 1961-62) up to the important urban project, The Gates, that Christo and Jeanne-Claude realized for the city of New York in 2005. These urban works of art were created by temporarily appropriating buildings, monuments or public places with a deeply symbolic value. 

image: https://about.ing.be/About-ING/Art/Christo-Jeanne-Claude.-Urban-Projects.htm

II.

Exhibition title: Ways of Seeing
Artists: Ghada Amer, Chris Bond, Frédéric Borgella, Thierry Bosquet, James Casebere, David Claerbout, Jojakim Cortis & Adrian Sonderegger, Salvador Dali, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Mona Hatoum, Jeppe Hein, Paul et Marlene Kos, Alicja Kwade, Gustav Metzger, Herman Moll, Shana Moulton, Vik Muniz, Grayson Perry, Walid Raad, Fred Sandback, Hassan Sharif, Cindy Sherman, Markus Schinwald, Kim Tschang-Yeul, James Turrell, Kara Walker, James Webb. 
Venue: Fondation Boghossian, Villa Empain
Dates: Until February 18, 2018 

Taking its cue from John Berger’s 1972 seminal text on visual culture, Ways of Seeing explores the various formalistic strategies that artists employ to re-configure our perception of the world. Ways of Seeing features 27 artists and artist collectives, and consists of 70 works, spanning a variety of media from painting, sculpture and photography to sound, film and installation. It facilitates a return towards a vision of artists as makers of things, who relentlessly remind us that the connection between what we see and what we know is never settled, and that seeing is, at its core, a political act.

image: http://www.villaempain.com/en/20-septembre-2017-exposition-ways-of-seeing/

Take a private tour with Jacinthe in Brussels to discover more!