Two artists, two tables, same idea: Walead Beshty & Pierre Bismuth (Brussels)

Funny how sometimes artists can come up with the same idea almost simultaneously and do something different with it. Take these stains on a table. Or rather: these stains on two tables. The pictures are lousy, I know, but I needed them to prove my point. During Brussels Art Days I discovered two rather similar projects, by two renowned artists, at two different galleries: two white stained tabletops. One by Walead Beshty (at Rodolphe Janssen, through October 29) and one by Pierre Bismuth (at D&A Lab, through October 10). The concept? At first the surface of the table is white, but after heavy usage the tabletop gets stained and those stains are meant to give the table its uniqueness. The difference? Beshty’s table (by the way: interesting artist, disappointing show at Janssen) becomes a work of art you can hang on your wall, Bismuth’s table is a design object. It’s meant to be used as a table. Want to know what those tables really look like? You’ll find pictures after the jump.

Fashion can be art too: Walter Van Beirendonck’s ‘Dream the world awake’ (MoMu, Antwerp)

For anyone still not convinced that fashion can be art, just one address: ModeMuseum, Antwerp. Because Walter Van Beirendonck‘s Dream The World Awake (through February 19) is probably the most exhilarating art exhibition on show in Belgium, right now. I’m not kidding. It’s a dizzying experience, walking amid those 100 revolving mannequins on pedestals, wearing his outrageous, colourful costumes. It’s an inspiring exhibition that makes you laugh and at the same time marvel at what the brain of a great, slightly eccentric artist can come up with. It makes you want to be creative too. And yes, there’s even some art as well. As the Belgian fashion designer wanted to show some of the things that inspire(d) him, you’ll come across works by Ugo Rondinone (Moonrise West August), Ai Weiwei (Coca Cola Vase), Paul McCarthy (Dick Eye & Heidi-video with Mike Kelley), Louise Bourgeois (Untitled, 2003), Jake & Dinos Chapman (Happy meal 2; Two faced cunt), a couple of pictures by Robert Mapplethorpe and of course one of the walking sculptures he collaborated on with Erwin Wurm. But you’ll have to really look for them, because your eyes will be glued to those clothes. Must-see.

A cement mixer spitting out art history: Jonathan Callan at Hopstreet (Brussels)

Doesn’t it just look like a painting to you? By some contemporary artist referring to that pointillist tradition? Well: wrong. It’s a picture zooming in on a part of probably the weirdest art installation on show in Brussels, right now: Historical Tinnitus by Jonathan Callan, at Hopstreet gallery (through October 22). For this new work (or: the remnants of a performance) the British artist pulped quite a number of art books and magazines in a cement mixer (in a chronological order!). The mixer was placed facing a wall and spat the pulp out, from left to right. Callan is suffering from tinnitus and to him all the sounds in a restaurant seem to be compressed within a simple layer. He has ‘processed’ art history in a similar way. By compressing it into one layer he wants to underline the absurdity of trying to write art history down in a linear narrative. Want to know what it really looks like? You’ll find a picture of the room after the jump.

Birdwatching of a different kind: Jean-Luc Mylayne at Gladstone Gallery (Brussels)

Brussels Art Days. Open gallery weekend. Which means: hopping from one contemporary artist’s universe to another’s. And wondering: is this really good or not; do I like it or not? It can be a dizzying experience. As if the needle of your compass is suddenly going in all directions. That’s why it felt comforting to end the day with something simple, charming, poetic, and beautiful: Jean-Luc Mylayne‘s photographs at Gladstone Gallery (through November 5). His large format color images (tableaux, as he calls them) are taken from two series: one shot during a residency in New Mexico and Texas and one shot among French apple orchards. As you might or might not know: Mylayne first meticulously chooses his location and then waits for the bird to sit exactly where he wants it to sit; to play its role in that prefigured mise-en-scene. ‘The bird didn’t just consent to a picture’, the French photographer says. ‘He poses, allowing me to take his portrait.’ You’ll find Mylayne’s work also at the Venice Biennale and in a recent book Into the hands of time.

‘Sleeping beauties’ (luckily) offers a whole lot more than just Spencer Tunick’s bodies

Don’t let that clever Spencer Tunick campaign and all his naked bodies put you off. Yes, all the Belgian media have been talking about Tunick’s July photo shoot, but only two of his pictures have ended up in Sleeping Beauties (through November 13), a little gem of an exhibition at Gaasbeek Castle (near Brussels), focusing on works of art inspired by sleep and dream. Art connoisseurs will probably discover nothing new, but they will have to admit that Sleeping Beauties consists of a well-chosen collection of works nicely presented in the rooms of that castle. Among the highlights are works by David Claerbout (Venice Lightbox, 2000), Hans Op de Beeck (Determination (New York Kids), 2003) and Bill Viola (The Sleep Of Reason, 1988), but the rest of the selection is almost flawless too: Kelly Schacht (Young Belgian Painters Award 2011), Jan Fabre, Lili Dujourie, Sophie Calle, Tobias Schalken, Michaël Borremans (three small paintings), Desiree Dolron and Andres Serrano. For those desperately in need of a shot of beauty.

Mr. Blue Sky is living here today: Pieter Vermeersch puts giant blue wall in Be-Part (Waregem)

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Difficult to imagine that it hasn’t been there all the time. But it hasn’t. It starts right at the entrance and takes you through all of the rooms, down to the basement. That blue wall. Cutting Be-Part (Waregem) in two. And then there’s that colour. Or should I say: colours? The blue you see at the beginning isn’t the blue you see at the end. It varies between a soft whitish blue and a bright Yves Klein blue. And the light (daylight or artificial light) has an effect too. Anyway, anyone entering this exhibition space for contemporary art will, in one way or the other, be impressed by this new work by Pieter Vermeersch (on view through November 6). As always the Belgian artist (nominated for the Young Belgian Painters Award in 2007) plays with colour (no spray paint has been used for this) and space/architecture. As if he has been trying to catch the sky and make his own abstract version of it.

Who rules at ‘Freestate’ (Ostend)? 21 young Belgian artists trying to make an impression

Finally. I finally managed to make that trip to Ostend. For Freestate, that summer exhibition (through September 11) presenting young Belgian art (21 artists selected by 5 curators) at several locations (warehouse, chapel, boat & bunker). It certainly is an interesting and varied exhibition, offering the visitor the opportunity to discover what young Belgian artists (and foreign artists working in Belgium) are up to, but nevertheless I was slightly disappointed. Maybe I had been building up my expectations a bit too high? Once again Matthieu Ronsse was the one who managed to intrigue me. I liked his over the top approach, part artist part charlatan; boyishly trying to impress and at the same time wanting to give the impression of not giving a shit. Ronsse came up with a wall with lots of paintings in different styles and added other stuff too – beer bottles in cement, an stale croissant. It seems as if all of it is quickly thrown together, but look closely and you’ll see he has paid attention to the way the light falls on his wall and through the holes in a painting attached to a window.

Lawn chairs in a graveyard, a light bulb in the woods, and a house that isn’t really a house: ‘Kunst & Zwalm’ and ‘Ename Actueel’

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Too bad one of the exhibitions is only on view for a short period of time, because both of them combined make for a nice day out, as both villages are really close to each other. Wonder what I’m talking about?  Kunst & Zwalm (through September 11) and Ename Actueel Sediment (through October 16), in Zwalm and Ename (near Oudenaarde): two exhibitions avoiding museum or gallery walls, displaying contemporary art at unusual locations (church, graveyard, barn, open field, park…). All works of art of Sediment are within walking distance, for Kunst & Zwalm you’ll need your car, although bringing your bike is even nicer, as the surrounding rural landscape is rather idyllic.

Red roses, hallucinatory effects in a church, and a weird Girl from Ipanema: ‘Contour 2011’

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A bouquet of red roses on stage in a dark theatre hall. That’s what I’ll probably be remembering from Contour 2011, the fifth biennial of moving image in Mechelen (through October 30). It’s part of The painter’s enemy, an intriguing new installation by Belgian artist Edith Dekyndt. Curated by Anthony Kiendl Contour (focusing on the links between music, moving image and social change) presents some 15 works of art (videos mostly) at 10 different locations. It will take you 3 hours to do the tour and watch them all.
Not all of the selected works are that exceptional, but the tour does take you to a few unexpected and really beautiful locations in the historical city-centre of Mechelen, such as the recently rediscovered Bimsem chapel (with two other highlights: Rodney Graham‘s Rotary psycho-opticon and Adam Pendleton‘s Band). A rather funny combination: Gysin & Sommerville‘s hallucinatory Dreamachine, presented in a church. There will be a one-off performance by Lee Ranaldo & Leah Singer on September 30.

Even an ugly landscape can be worth of attention: influential ‘New topographics’ exhibition on view at Rotterdam’s Fotomuseum

‘What I remember most clearly from the original show, was that almost nobody liked it.’ Things sure can change. These days New topographics – Photographs of a man-altered landscape  is regarded as a revolutionary and highly influential exhibition. In 1975 almost nobody came to see it at the George Eastman House (Rochester, NY) and almost nobody reviewed it. A new version of the exhibition is now touring with great acclaim. It sure is a good reason to make that trip to Rotterdam, where New topographics is currently on view at the Nederlands Fotomuseum (through September 11).

Belgian art collector Geert Verbeke hopes to be the first man with a piece of bulletproof skin

He was known in Belgium already as a slightly eccentric art collector, but today it seems as if the whole world is talking about Geert Verbeke, collector of collages and bio art and owner of the Verbeke Collection (Kemzeke, Belgium): he is aiming to be the first man with a piece of bulletproof skin, as an ode to bio art. The only problem? So far he hasn’t found a surgeon who wants to implant it.
The piece of skin is actually called 2.6g 329m/s, and is a project by Dutch artist Jalila Essaïdi. It consists of spider silk seeded with human cells, developed by three Dutch and one American laboratory. With her project Essaïdi wants to explore the social, political, ethical and cultural issues surrounding safety. Which forms of safety are socially important, is the question she wants to raise.
For the moment the piece of skin is exhibited at Naturalis, the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity in Leiden (Netherlands). You’ll find an article from The Guardian about the project here, and you’ll find Essaïdi’s site with plenty of info here.

SUMMER TRIP 3: a Ferris wheel in a submarine wharf (Elmgreen & Dragset, Rotterdam)

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What the Turbine Hall is to London and the Tate Modern, the Onderzeebootloods (Submarine Wharf) is to Rotterdam and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen: a huge exhibition hall for special commissions. This summer Elmgreen & Dragset are trying to fill the enormous space with The One & The Many (through September 25).
It’s the third part of a trilogy by this Danish/Norwegian duo. The first part (The Welfare Show) was presented at the Serpentine Gallery (London, 2006), the second (The Collectors) at the Venice Biennale (2009). They were selected for the Fourth Plinth-project (2012) at Trafalgar Square (London) and they will take part in Ghent’s Track exhibition, next year.
The One & The Many is trying to offer visitors a surreal experience, with a giant housing block, a Ferris wheel, the flickering light from a neon sign, and actors walking around in a huge decor resembling a film set. I’m not sure though it’s a really convincing work of art. I’ve seen theatre sets by Anna Viebrock, for instance, which impressed me more. But nevertheless: a place you absolutely have to go to, if you happen to be in Rotterdam (and you can go there by boat!).

‘A gay little Flamand’: Verbeke Foundation honors Belgian surrealist E.L.T. Mesens

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His greatest coup? Buying 150 (!) Magritte paintings before they were auctioned off, when a gallery in Paris went bankrupt in 1932. And on the lighter side: Peggy Guggenheim mentions him in her well-known memoirs, as they had a fling. He called her ‘the old cathedral’ and she described him as ‘a gay little Flamand, quite vulgar, but really very nice and warm’. I am talking about E.L.T. Mesens, a key figure of the Belgian surrealist movement. I know surrealism is a bit outside the scope of this blog, but the Mesens retrospective (the first, they claim) set up by the Belgian Verbeke Foundation (through October 16) might be the reason you were looking for to make that trip to Kemzeke, to pay a visit to this highly unusual private collection with mostly contemporary (bio) art. A big part of the 200 works by Mesens on display are from Verbeke’s private collection, and you’ll undoubtedly notice that this exhibition is first and foremost a labor of love and that more could have been done to illustrate the life of this artist and art socialite. But at least they thought of celebrating the 40th anniversary of Mesens’ death. (all images: courtesy Verbeke Foundation)

SUMMER TRIP 2: How sometimes you have to admit that you were wrong (Tracey Emin, ‘Love is what you want’, Hayward Gallery, London)

People like you need to fuck people like me. There I was, looking at that blue neon sign, thinking: what will happen if I use that one as an opening line, next time I go to a party? It was not the last time Tracey Emin would make me smile. And it certainly wasn’t the last time I would come across explicit language or images. Tracey Emin, right? But if you happen to be in London this month, do visit Emin’s retrospective Love is what you want (Hayward Gallery; through August 29). You might be surprised by what you see. Just as I was. In a big way.

A Polish cemetery and Flemish trees: all of that and more, this summer at Bozar (Brussels)

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A bunch of naked people running around, playing tag in a former concentration camp gas chamber. A controversial work of art, but I didn’t feel anything. That’s when I thought: you need a holiday. Now that I’m back I do want to remind you of the fact that Bozar (Brussels) is a place you have to go to this summer. Apart from that great Jeff Wall exhibition (18.000 visitors already) and the Young Belgian Painters Award exhibition, it presents The Power Of Fantasy (through September 18), an interesting overview of Polish modern and contemporary art (with a cemetery by Robert Kusmirowski and Artur Mijewski – who made that gas chamber video in ’99 – one of the ten most interesting artists today, according to Newsweek), and Beyond The Document (through September 25), bringing together thirteen Belgian photographers, all of them focusing on ‘the age-old boundary between artwork and document, between subjective interpretation and objective representation’. Utopia Parkway’s favorite in that show? Bert Danckaert’s minimalist, almost abstract pictures.
(all images: courtesy Bozar)

Ring, ring. ‘Hello?’ ‘This is Yoko Ono speaking.’ (‘The Encounter’, Jan Mot, Brussels)

‘Oh my god, I can’t believe this’, the girl said, after she had put down that white phone. ‘I don’t even remember what she said. Something about buddhism and that she was in Tokyo and that she was sending us her love.’ Or what can happen if you walk into Jan Mot (Brussels) on a Saturday afternoon and the phone rings. Pick it up and you’ll have Yoko Ono on the other end of the line. Even the people at the gallery were slightly amazed: ‘This is actually the first time it rings.’ Yep, while most galleries are closed for the summer, Jan Mot presents The Encounter (through September 3, Tue-Sat, 2-8 (!) pm), a small show with just a couple of works, focusing on that element of encounter. But do go there, because during your short guided tour, you’ll suddenly see your guide bending over sideways, asking: ‘What do you think this is about?’ For the second time this summer: Tino Sehgal. First in Avignon (This situation), now in Brussels (This is about). And this being Brussels, I wonder how long it takes before someone steals the shoe that holds the front door open (a work of art, actually).

Lemons, cabbages and the sea: Cy Twombly’s marvellous Polaroids (‘Le temps retrouvé, Avignon)

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Vaut le détour. Since we’re talking about the south of France I’ll allow myself to use this cliché for once. And just for once. I’m glad that by travelling to Avignon, I’ve been able to pay my respects to the late Cy Twombly, so to say. The great American painter died on July 5 in Rome and Le temps retrouvé (Collection Lambert, Avignon; through October 30) is one of the last exhibitions he had been working on. It’s a marvellous exhibition which combines well-chosen works of other artists with lesser-known work by Twombly: his Polaroids printed on paper. You’ll find a room dedicated to the photographs of Twombly’s good friend Sally Mann, two works by Belgian artist David Claerbout, Sol LeWitt’s great and funny Autobiography, lots of pictures by Jacques-Henri Lartigue and works by Hiroshi Sugimoto, Louise Lawler and Cindy Sherman. When you’ve seen all of this you’ll walk into a couple of rooms with those deceivingly simple, colourful Twombly Polaroids. If you happen to be in the south of France: compulsory viewing. PS: There’s also a large overview of Twombly’s Polaroids currently on display at Siegen (Germany), through October 30. Info here. (all images: courtesy Collection Lambert).

The Martians have left the building: Richard Long’s ‘Champ d’ocre’ at Avignon

Quiet places to go to, when all this Avignon-madness is getting to you, part two. You could have stepped into Jérôme Bel’s office, who has been listening to anyone willing to tell him stories about performances at the Palais des Papes; experiences he might use for his piece for the Cour d’Honneur in 2013. But he is gone by now. Apart from Tino Sehgal’s ‘This Situation’ (review here), one of my other personal favorites is that quiet and cool Chapelle Saint Charles, where acclaimed English artist Richard Long, famous for his ‘land art’, has put down a Champ d’ocre, a field of ochre: a big rectangle for which he has used the red ocre you’ll find at Roussillon. Long apparently was impressed by the ochre, during several of the walks he is known for, in the Vaucluse region in 2010. With all the rocks and the traces his field of ochre looks like a piece of the red planet, left behind by some mysterious Martians, who have quietly left the building. On view until October 16. Info here.

A mysterous door leading to unexpected situations: the elusive Tino Sehgal has come to Avignon

He doesn’t allow for his works of art to be photographed. And there are no other traces left, as well. Tino Sehgal must be one of the most elusive artists in contemporary art. Over the past few days I’ve become an addict of his This Situation, here in Avignon. Everyday I spend some time listening to conversations taking unexpected turns at Salle Franchet. As I said: no pictures allowed. That’s why you’ll have to do with a picture of… the door leading to that situation.

SUMMER TRIP 1: Festival d’Avignon

You’ve come to know Utopia Parkway as a blog covering events in Belgium mostly, but this summer your beloved reporter will try to go on a trip or two abroad as well. All for art’s sake, of course. First stop? Avignon, France, where he will be trying to keep his mind focused in this mad and hot city, covering a couple of performances during the renowned Festival d’Avignon. Just last night your Utopia Parkway woke up way too early to catch the world premiere of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s Cesena, at 4.30 AM (!) at the Cour d’Honneur of the Palais des Papes. More on that tomorrow.