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!
 

Paris Art Guide - December

I.

Exhibition: William Forsythe x Ryoji Ikeda
Artists:  William Forsythe and Ryoji Ikeda
Venue: Grande Halle de la Villette
Dates: Until December 31st, 2017

You have one month to merge into the impressive large-scale light installation by Japanese sound artist Ryoji Ikeda that just opened at La Villette. The piece is the latest iteration of Ikeda's test pattern project, in which the artist converts electronic music into binary barcode patterns, in real time. The installation goes with a piece by choreographer William Forsythe, also reflecting about the body in space and time.

II.

Exhibition: Etre moderne : le MoMa à Paris (Being Modern: MoMa in Paris)
Artists: Various artists
Venue: Fondation Louis Vuitton
Dates: Until March 5th, 2017

Etre moderne : le MoMa à Paris is one of the big exhibitions opened last October during Fiac week. The Fondation Louis Vuitton again demonstrates its strike force in the art world by bringing 200 MoMa masterpieces by Cézanne, Malevich, Calder, Joseph Beuys, Yayoi Kusama and others. The exhibition tells the story of modernity in the 20th Century, and how New York won the challenge over Europe thanks to powerful acquisitions. If you haven't seen it yet, Christmas in Paris is a great occasion!

III.

Exhibition: Lucien Hervé, Bâtisseur d'ombres
Artists: Lucien Hervé
Venue: Galerie Maubert
Dates: Until December 23rd, 2017

Maubert gallery invited me to co-curate a Lucien Hervé exhibition that I must recommend, even more if you're fond of photography and architecture. Lucien Hervé (1910-2007) was Le Corbusier's official photographer. He documented the construction works of Chandigarh, Marseille and Oscar Niemeyer's Brasilia. We decided to bring these famous pictures together with a more intimate part of his work, where his mastery with lines, shadows and composition shows. Take the occasion to shop Christmas gifts in the shape of witty, original artist editions at GDM just across the street. 

Take a tour with Judith in Paris 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!

Milan Art Guide - December

I. 

Exhibition: Leon Golub
Artists: Leon Golub
Venue: Fondazione Prada Milano
Dates: Until January 15th, 2018

The exhibition is part of a research program of the Chicago art scene in the post-war period, presented at Fondazione Prada as a unique project.  Through the expressive force of his painting, Golub shows us the brutality of imperialism, encouraging us to take a moment to think about the dramatic reality represented on the canvas. A reflection relevant for this moment, now more than ever.

II. 

Exhibition: Bill Viola alla Cripta del San Sepolcro
Artists: Bill Viola
Venue: Crypt of San Sepolcro
Dates: Until January 28th, 2018

The oldest underground church in Milan has reopened to the public presenting an extraordinary exhibition of Bill Viola in its Crypt, showcasing three video artworks that create a living dialogue between the space and the themes the artist has explored in his works. A unique experience in the heart of Milan, thanks to the location and the masterful installation of the works.

III. 

Exhibition: Sol LeWitt Between the lines
Artists: Sol LeWitt
Venue: Fondazione Carriero
Dates: Until June 23rd, 2018

Fondazione Carriero presents a retrospective of Sol LeWitt that aims to explore the relationship between the artist’s work and the architecture. All the artworks are displayed starting from the peculiarities of the spaces of the Foundation in order to investigate and rethink the concept of site-specificity. A must to see!

Take a tour with Sara in Milan to discover more!
 

Je t'aime, Ronit Elkabetz

““I truly believe clothes have spirit and a soul, so it’s important to me to care for them and then let them go when the time comes. After they have travelled a long way with me, I allow them to continue on, like a story or a film that needs to go on with its own life” ”

— Ronit Elkabetz

Actress, director, social activist, muse. All of these titles are applicable to the international icon, Ronit Elkabetz. Each role is thoroughly dissected in Je t’aime, Ronit Elkabetz, a new exhibition at the Design Museum in Holon, Israel, which opens November 27th on what would have been Elkabetz’s 53rd birthday.

Ronit Elkabetz in a gown by Alber Elbaz at Gindi TLV Fashion week, 2015. 

Photographer: Amit Berlowitz ©

This exhibition, which contains 528 items from Elkabetz’s personal wardrobe, was a collaboration between film director Shlomi Elkabetz (Ronit’s brother and collaborator) and fashion curator and historian Ya’ara Keydar.

While the general Israeli public may not have identified Elkabetz primarily as a fashion icon, this exhibition proves her sartorial choices were always pertinent in the actress’s various cinematic projects and an important part of her daily life. In many ways, this exhibition provides another dimension to Elkabetz’s garments, which she saw as living souls.

Ronit Elkabetz. Photographer: Gabriel Baharlia, 2011 ©

Ronit was born in Be’er Sheva and when she was young, her family moved to the town of Kiryat Yam in northern Israel. It was here that she had her first official introduction to fashion as she studied it in high school. At at the age of 17, she began modeling and after designing, sewing, and working as a runway and photo model, she quickly became steeped in the world of glossy covers and haute couture.

Elkabetz would come to have a symbiotic relationship with the fashion world and specifically Moroccan-born Israeli designer, Alber Elbaz, with whom she would often collaborate. Through Elkabetz’s clothing, the act of getting dressed sheds its mundane connotations and becomes something inherently transgressive, cathartic, and creative. Elkabetz’s wardrobe and fashion choices demonstrated her political, feminist, and minority identity agendas and were in many ways an extension of her art as an actress and director.

Ronit Elkabetz in SION, a film by Joseph Dadoune , 2006

Artist credit: Joseph Dadoune, 2006 ©

The theatrical design of Je t’aime, Ronit Elkabetz, expertly curated by Keydar, transports visitors into a theater of sorts as they explore the 31 ‘scenes’ illustrating Elkabetz’s attitude towards fashion. The crowning moment of the exhibition is undoubtedly the three-meter-long vivid yellow Lanvin gown designed by Alber Elbaz. Suspended in the center of the lower gallery, ‘the Sun Dress,’ floats weightlessly, its canary color cutting through the darkness of the gallery space. As visitors enter the dim room, they maneuver through rosettes of silky red fabric on the floor and hear Elkabetz’s voice speaking and singing as if from another dimension, all without ever taking their eyes off of the enchanting garment, which pulls them closer as if it were really the sun.

On the verso of this display, Photocall Magador (a short film directed by Shlomi Elkzabetz) is projected behind a lace gilded mannequin wearing a gothic tulle gown, also by Elbaz. In this imagined scenario, paparazzi call out to Ronit before silence ensues and only the sounds of waves crashing and cameras clicking are audible. The entire room creates a spiritual environment, where the presence of Elkabetz is palpable as her voice rings through the air and her personal items maintain a vibrant presence.

Ronit Elkabetz on the set of the film Scar, directed by Haim Bouzaglo , 1994

Photographer, Adi Kaplan, 1994 ©

Lustrous jewelry and chic stilettos are displayed in light boxes dotting the walls of a corridor that transitions visitors from the lower gallery. Softly illuminated and presented on an intimate scale, the accessories shown in this passage evoke feelings of awe as if discovering precious treasures or peaking into a cabinet of curiosities. Presented alongside sensual flowers, their femininity is heightened and they seem like organic extensions of womanhood.  

The theatrics continue in the upper gallery where mannequins wearing corsets, couture, and costumes tell the story of Elkabetz through style.

The upper gallery is divided by a 16 meter bridge that ascends and abruptly stops in front of the ‘Finale dress’ (designed in tribute to Elkabetz by Victor Bellaish), suspended over a floor projection of the the seashore. Neon text on the adjacent wall ominously reads ‘this is not cinema.’ This climactic display acts as the finale to the exhibition, allowing visitors a somber yet spiritual moment of reflection as they digest the performance they’ve just witnessed.

Ronit Elkabetzon the set of “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem,” directed by Ronit and ShlomiElkabetz. Image courtesy of ShlomiElkabetz ©
Photographer: Amit Berlowitz

The triumph of the human spirit is a major theme both in Elkabetz’s oeuvre and the curatorial narrative of the exhibition. Elkabetz imbued every element of her life with passion, and that energy continues to radiate in new ways from the precious objects she left behind from her inspiring yet tragically short life.

Je t'aime, Ronit Elkabetz is showing at the Design Museum Holon from November 27th, 2017 until April 30th, 2018.

To learn more about this exhibition or the Israeli art scene, take an art tour with one our local guides in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.