Welcome to the chapel of colours! Six thoughts on MIMA, as it opens its doors in Brussels

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

So: MIMA. Brussels’ new museum devoted to urban art, hoping to attract 30.000 visitors in its first year. Hailed as a beacon of hope for Molenbeek. Six thoughts. One: for years authorities in Brussels have been talking about a museum of modern/contemporary art, and it’s still not there. While four people just decide to start their own museum, aiming for a young audience? You just have to love them for it. Two: Millennium Iconoclast Museum Of Art? Horrible name. MIMA it will be. Three: can urban art be contained in the walls of a museum? Two of the people behind MIMA have been running Alice Gallery for over ten years now and they’ve proven that it can be done. Four: of course, the buzz is great, but can MIMA become a really interesting project in the long-term, artistically? The future will have to tell. Five: can MIMA save Molenbeek? Of course not. That’s too heavy a burden. Six: just that explosion of colours by Maya Hayuk alone is worth the trip (plus the view from the rooftop terrace, of course). So: check it out.

Underwater love, so beautifully liquid: Bára Sigfúsdóttir’s “The Lover”

Brussels. Belgium. How to deal with everything, these days? Some keep on devouring the news sites or get really active on social media. I tend to go in silent mode. Try to quietly look for solace where I’ve always found it: in art. And so I bought a ticket for the last Belgian performance of Bára Sigfúsdóttir‘s The Lover. A piece I had already seen at its premiere, exactly a year ago, and once again I was slowly seduced by it. A thoughtful choreography, cleverly combined with visual art (work by French photographer Noémie Goudal), set design (88888) and soundscape (Borko).

One of these things doesn’t belong here. Or: the difference between a handkerchief and a chunk of wood

One is a work of art, the other isn’t. It was funny to see the confusion, on that Sunday afternoon, with quite a few people visiting M HKA (Antwerp). Nobody seemed to be sure. So everybody carefully avoided to step on that paper handkerchief looking like a tiny mountain. Parents telling their children to pay attention. I guess that’s what happens when artists such as Kati Heck and Vaast Colson take over an entire museum floor. When you can sit on a swing and sip jenever from a work of art. When artists merrily blur the lines. What is art and what isn’t? Later that week I came across a great picture on Facebook, of former art gallery Jan Mot (Brussels). It has now become a hair shop. A couple of years ago Belgian artist Guillaume Bijl turned an art gallery (Etablissement d’En Face) in exactly the same street into… a hair shop. His transformation was so skilfully done that everybody thought it actually was a hair shop. You’ll find both pictures after the jump. And that work of art next to the handkerchief that somebody had dropped accidentally? By Bernd Lohaus, Untitled (1970). One of the works in The Gap, that must-see show by Luc Tuymans with Belgian abstract art.

The herra skella patsu patsu’s have landed: “dbddbb” by Daniel Linehan/Hiatus

A haka. But an updated contemporary version of that Maori war cry. That’s what it made me think of. But Daniel Linehan‘s new piece dbddbb was in fact inspired by dadaïst sound poems. It combines nonsensical words and sentences with marching rhythms. Sounds weird? Don’t be afraid. The Belgium-based American choreographer ends up with a piece that is both experimental and enjoyable.

New life for a shopping mall: how contemporary art took over the Rivoli building (Brussels)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Funny, or rather: interesting, how a city is a living thing. For a while it seemed as if Brussels would get an art gallery hub in the Dansaert area. But then Jan Mot moved away, and Catherine Bastide. Motive Gallery disappeared, and Van der Mieden even returned to Antwerp. Bye bye Dansaert. Then there was this guy opening a gallery at the other side of town, in 2008. In an old shopping mall. You really had to wánt to go there. But hey: since then more than ten galleries have moved to the Rivoli building, and it’s become a place worth checking out. Six times a year the Rivoli galleries are open on a Sunday. Haven’t been there yet? Why not go tomorrow, between 2 and 6 pm.

Tiny blue heads and voluptuous red bodies: Louise Bourgeois at Xavier Hufkens (Brussels)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

‘I organize a sculpture the way we organize a treatment for the sick. You’d better know what you’re doing.’ Visiting Les têtes bleues et les femmes rouges at Xavier Hufkens (Brussels; through October 31) made me take Louise Bourgeois‘ book Writings and interviews 1923-1997 out of my bookcase at home, and read a couple of pages. It’s that kind of show. One that stays with you. With some really beautiful works, installed in a subtle way. I just love how the blue (Tête I) and red (Pregnant Woman and The Family) meet, for instance, in the last room. But anyway. The exhibition brings together some late works (2004-2009) by this extraordinary artist (1911-2010): fabric and stainless steel sculptures (Les têtes bleues) and gouaches (Les femmes rouges). She began making the fabric heads when she was in her eighties; the blue representing melancholia, suffering and acedia. Her red gouaches, of course, show her preoccupation with sexuality, pregnancy, motherhood and the cycles of life. The kind of works you’d otherwise go to a museum for. So: not to miss. (all images: courtesy Xavier Hufkens, Brussels)

What’s that rock doing in your face? Don’t miss John Stezaker’s first solo show in Belgium

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

When writing interviews for the newspaper I work for, I always put a lot of effort in trying to make it look as if the writing was done effortless. I go over it again and again until the article looks real easy. Is that why I like the collages of British artist John Stezaker so much? I do imagine that the same applies to him. The end result looks like there was no other possible solution for this particular problem. As if it just had to be like this. Easy. But I imagine him, sitting there, sifting through his boxes, again and again, before he finds two old pictures that really match, in the way he wants them to match. Stezaker – a former tutor at London’s College Of Art, and a fan of the godfather of this blog Joseph Cornell – has been doing this since the seventies, but his work has only recently been (re)discovered. He was awarded the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize in 2012. For the first time a small selection of his collages (and a couple of his ‘found objects’: discarded hands of display mannequins) is on view at a Belgian gallery. Touch is set up by London gallery The Approach at the beautiful gallery space owned by New York art fair Independent (Rue De La Régence/Regentschapsstraat 67, Brussels; through October 24). Must-see. (all images: courtesy the artist and The Approach, London)

How to and how not to: art at strange venues (‘Fragil’ and ‘Louise 186’, Brussels)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Exhibitions at unusual venues? Count me in. I’m always curious. Even though a strange space doesn’t automatically mean a great exhibition. As is proven these days in Brussels. Louise 186 (last day tomorrow, Av. Louise 186, next to Rouge Tomate restaurant, 12-6pm, free entrance) is a group show set up in a big building (3.000 m2) about to be transformed in an apartment complex, with some 20 Belgian artists or artists working in Belgium, such as Fabrice Samyn, Jean-Baptiste Bernadet, Benoit Plateus and Lionel Estève. Somehow the exhibition fails to come alive. The derelict spaces are just too clean and a lot of the works are too bland. I then prefer Fragil, unpretentious, set up in what used to be the big GB/Carrefour supermarket in the heart of the city (Rue Marché Aux Poulets 5, Wed-Sun 11am-7pm, through October 18, free entrance). It’s by the people behind that lovely Zinneke Parade, and the show is based on the theme of the next parade (May 21, 2016). Works by 17 artists (Benjamin Verdonck, Isaac Cordal, Jozef Wouters) in a somewhat mysterious set-up (courtesy: Rotor). Do pick up a copy of their nice, informative catalogue (for free).

What happens when dance is governed by another set of rules? Some thoughts on ‘Work/Travail/Arbeid’ by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (Wiels, Brussels)

What happens when dance is governed by another set of rules? Well, you get a hype, to begin with. More than 24.000 people went to see Work/Travail/Arbeid by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker during the nine weeks it was on at Wiels contemporary art centre, Brussels. The exhibition was one of this year’s best ‘performances’ a jury of Flemish critics decided, and so there will be a short rerun at Wiels in September, for Het Theaterfestival in Brussels. In 2016 Work/Travail/Arbeid will be presented by Centre Pompidou (Paris) and Tate Modern (London). I went to Wiels several times, trying to figure out why people were so drawn to this. These are my thoughts.

Last chance to see Belgium’s most famous forehead… in more than hundred versions (‘A Belgian Politician’ – MarionDeCannière, Antwerp)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A Luc Tuymans painting toasted on a slice of bread? Check. You just have to love A Belgian Politician, just because it so utterly Belgian, so surrealistic. Following the internationally talked-about ruling of a Belgian court, condemning Luc Tuymans for using the photo of a Belgian politician (Jean-Marie Dedecker) taken by a Belgian press photographer (Katrijn Van Giel), 180 Belgian artists were asked to create a work of art based on Van Giels picture. Some 120 actually contributed to the exhibition at MarionDeCannière (Antwerp, through March 29). The works are not for sale, and the organisers, visual artists Tom Liekens and Lieven Segers, stress that their exhibition is not meant to attack Van Giel, but is first and foremost a way to defend artistic freedom. Clever idea: Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad sent Van Giel to the exhibition to take pictures of it. And Dedecker’s forehead is by now undoubtedly Belgium’s most famous one.

A zen thing to do: paying a visit to Marino Formenti’s piano chapel during Performatik

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I was on my way to my yoga class around the corner, but decided to skip it yesterday, as something odd had caught my attention. A guy in a room playing the piano, next to some mattresses on the floor. I opened the door, sat down, and listened. Other people dropped by, and left. Whenever the guy had finished playing a piece, he scribbled the title of it on one of the white walls. Without speaking. ‘A kind of pagan chapel where life and music can become one’, that’s how pianist/conductor/performer Marino Formenti describes his project nowhere. For 12 days he will reside in the Zsenne art lab (through Sunday March 29). He will be sleeping, eating and playing there. It’s one of the many projects of this year’s edition of Performatik, Kaaitheater’s performance art biennial. Want a zen moment? Go and listen (10am-10 pm, 2 Rue Anneessensstraat), as this is more than a gimmick: Formenti really is a great pianist. Not living in Brussels? Watch (and listen to) the livestream, here. I’m already addicted.

Drums, T-shirts, champagne bottles and a xerox machine: Vaast Colson at CIAP (Hasselt)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Push the button of that xerox machine, and it produces an original work of art. For free. For you. Belgian artist Vaast Colson is a generous one, but someone who comes up with some rather enigmatic works of art as well. And so, I was asking myself, once again, while I was walking through the rooms of CIAP Hasselt, is the art world so afraid of explanations? As if offering some clues might take away all the magic. I, on the contrary, am convinced that it will only fuel the curiosity. Don’t get me wrong. Do visit Colson’s show with recent work Hotel Echo Tango (through April 19), when you go to Hasselt, to visit the Paul Smith exhibition for instance, as his works really work well in those grand looking rooms of that old building from 1906. What’s a work of art and what is not, you wonder. But you’ll agree with me: too bad the booklet doesn’t offer at least some clues to help you find your way in this peculiar artistic universe. (all pictures: Kristof Vrancken)

Dangling guitars, shimmering cymbals and a sickening bass flute: ‘Orkest’ at Netwerk (Aalst)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Never knew the sound of a bass flute could be that sickening. It really turned my stomach upside down. No wonder they hand out earmuffs and earplugs at the entrance. And I had thought to be ‘safe’ by visiting Orkest when those huge church bells weren’t doing their daily routine (every day at 3pm). Am I sounding too off-putting here? Orkest (orchestra) at Netwerk (Aalst, through March 6), consisting of 8 installations, is actually a rather interesting, small exhibition about sound, presenting for instance Konrad Smolenski‘s Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More, which was part of the Venice Biennale in 2013 (Polish pavilion). Too busy to make that trip to Aalst? Then at least check out these videos, fragments from percussionist Julian Sartorius’s Beat Diary, or listen to Rutger Zuydervelt ‘s eternal A, Stay Tuned, with more than 150 musicians contributing. (images: courtesy Netwerk)

These boots are made for walking (part two): Kelly Schacht collecting the alphabet at Meessen De Clercq (Brussels)

What is it with shoes and contemporary art these days? A while ago I spotted a pair of boots in an exhibition in Kortrijk, and now this pair, at Meessen De Clercq, Brussels. The boots belong to Belgian artist Kelly Schacht, who’s actually used them before, in an exhibition at KIOSK (Ghent, 2013). Back then they were worn by performers ‘activating’ the exhibition. Now they function as a reference to that previous exhibition, and as a reference to a fictional character and as an invitation – on that threshold between reality and fiction – to ‘step’ into Schacht’s universe. Collecting the Alphabet: the Prequel (through February 28) is the first of a series of exhibitions by this Belgian artist who was awarded the Young Belgian Art Prize (formerly: Young Belgian Painters Award) in 2011. It’s meant to be a search for an alphabet by an artist looking for (abstract) ways to speak and communicate, and thus a show of a puzzling kind. Curious? Installation views after the jump.

Trying to mix Shakespeare with Brian Eno: ‘Golden Hours (As you like it)’ by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker & Rosas

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker dancing to Brian Eno. That’s how Golden Hours was announced. But somewhere along the way it became: Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker dancing to Shakespeare. Golden Hours (As you like it) still carries the traces of that shift. The piece once again proves the radical artistic mind of the Belgian choreographer, but at the time of the premiere (Kaaitheater, Brussels, January 2015), it was a dance performance that definitely needed some more thought.

Why go to Amsterdam? Jan Mot (Brussels) presents award-winning piece by Tino Sehgal

Three interpreters sitting on the floor, moving slowly, making clicking sounds, singing; everything happening in a strange slow motion kind of way. Did I really hear the guy singing Destiny’s Child’s Say My Name? Did I see that girl throwing a lasso Gangnam Style? In 2015 Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is presenting a major survey of the work of Tino Sehgal: A Year At The Stedelijk, 12 presentations in 12 months. But for those of you living in Brussels: you don’t need to go to Amsterdam if you want to get to know the work of this art world darling and Turner Prize nominee (2013). Gallery Jan Mot is currently presenting Yet Untitled (2012), through February 28, a piece that was featured in the official Venice Biennale exhibition in 2013. Sehgal even won the Golden Lion for best artist for it. Want more info on Yet Untitled? You’ll find an interview at the end of this clip. Two rules from the unwritten Tino Sehgal crash course, for when you go to Jan Mot: don’t call this a performance, and, as always: pictures not allowed.

What’s that camel doing near the Royal Palace? A strange parade courtesy Pierre Leguillon, or: Teatrino Palermo on the move

I wonder what the Belgian king would have made of it, would he have opened a window of the Royal Palace, Saturday morning. A camel, carrying a puppet theatre? Near the palace, in the streets of Brussels? Many passers-by were wondering the same thing. What? It was a strange parade indeed, set up by Wiels, (SIC) and French (Brussels-based) artist Pierre Leguillon, in the frame of his Museum of Mistakes exhibition at Wiels (through February 22). The camel is a reference to the camel Marcel Broodthaers put in the lobby of the Palais de Beaux-Arts (Brussels) in 1974. The puppet theatre is a copy (courtesy Pierre Leguillon) of a miniature theatre made by Blinky Palermo (a friend of Broodthaers) in 1964. And where did the camel start his tour with the so-called Teatrino Palermo, on Saturday? Right: Rue de la Pepinière, where Broodthaers used to live, and also the place where the Belgian artist opened his alternative Musée d’art moderne in 1968. And where did the camel go to? Rue Ravenstein, where the theatre was exhibited in 1988, at Marie-Puck Broodthaers’ gallery. Yep: toying with references, concepts such as reproduction, re-enactment, movement and means of presentation… that’s Leguillon.

The power of music? Silence reigns at Villa Empain (last days for ‘Music Palace’ exhibition)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

No plans for the weekend yet? Why not make it a bit posher by paying Villa Empain (Brussels, near Terkamerenbos/Bois de la Cambre) a visit; as tomorrow and Sunday are the last days you can visit Music Palace? The Villa is a difficult space for exhibitions, as the building itself tends to steal the show, but for one reason or the other Music Palace, the power of music seen by visual artists seems to fit in. More over: for once mixing works of art from the East and the West (Villa Empain calls itself a centre for art and dialogue between the cultures of East and West) doesn’t feel too contrived and you’ll be able to see a nice collection of works by Joachim Koester, Dan Graham, Allen Ruppersberg, Robert Longo, Pipilotti Rist and Belgian artist Joris van de Moortel. Folkert de Jong brought in the dancing girls, Ivan Navarro added a drum kit, and it’s impossible not to like Charlemagne Palestine’s piano. The strange thing though? The silence. Not what you would expect at an exhibition about the power of music. Quite the opposite of the current exhibition at Netwerk (Aalst), but more about that later.

That was then, this is now: 1st Antwerp Art Weekend (50 exhibitions) starts tomorrow

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Why not start the year where we ended it: in Antwerp. The last exhibition I visited in 2014 was, once again, proof of how Antwerp tries to reclaim some of the “territory” it lost to Brussels, now mostly regarded as Belgium’s contemporary art capital. Un Voyage Autour De Ma Chambre (pictures) was an exhibition in December, set up by that slightly alternative artistic centre/workroom Het Bos (ex: Scheld’apen) in collaboration with art collective Cakehouse, with work by artists such as Guillaume Bijl (he set up an exact copy of a travel shop), Vaast Colson and even Luc Tuymans. And now I’m really curious to see what Antwerp’s first Art Weekend, starting tomorrow, will have to offer: 4 days, more than 50 exhibitions, 40 locations. A new art magazine will be launched (Oogst), Extra City Kunsthal presents a 4-day happening The Image Generator, art school HISK sets up a pop-up exhibition Little Hisk, and many galleries will exceptionally be open on Sunday. All info here, exhibition overview here. Utopia Parkway might be Brussels-based, but: go Antwerp go!

Art in a car showroom? ‘Ritornando’, a pop-up exhibition by Albert Baronian in Ghent

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Art in a car showroom? Why not. Ritornando (through December 21) is a peculiar pop-up exhibition set up by Albert Baronian (Brussels) in Ghent, at CIAC, a well-known (modernist) car repair shop from 1964 that will soon be transformed into an apartment complex. It features work by 17 artists from Belgium (Thomas Bogaert, Philippe Vandenberg, Helmut Stallaerts) and abroad (Tony Oursler, Gilbert & George). They all have a link with the city of Ghent, either because they live there, had an exhibition there, or because their work is featured in the S.M.A.K. collection. Ritornando? An Italian word referring to a return to a place, but also to wandering around places where you’ve been before, with a touch of nostalgia. Albert Baronian was invited to set up an exhibition in Ghent in 1977, he had a gallery in the city with Yvon Lambert, and S.M.A.K. was the first ever museum to buy works from the gallerist. (CIAC, Einde Were 1, Gent; Wed-Sun, 11 am-6 pm, free entrance)