5/11/2014
Hans Op de Beeck / Thomas De Brabanter
Botanique, Bruxelles
Using a palette reduced to black alone, in his gallery of drawings Hans Op de Beeck reveals a night-time world, dominated by silence and tranquillity. De Brabanter presents a series of composite works under the dramatic title "A Horror Story".
Hans Op de Beeck
The drawing room
In November, the Museum will host a gallery of drawings dedicated to the unique universe of Hans Op de Beeck. In a muted setting conceived by the artist, the exhibition will present a series of drawings and previously unseen watercolours, as well as a film produced for the occasion. One of the major figures on the current artistic scene, Hans Op de Beeck is the creator of a deeply poetic and troubling body of work.
Using a palette reduced to black alone, the artist reveals a night-time world, dominated by silence and tranquillity. Time seems to give way in his vertiginous urban backdrops, foggy horizons or confined interiors. Each and every one arouses a disconcerting sense of both familiarity and strangeness.
Moving away from a strict representation of reality in favour of a more cerebral dimension, his landscapes resemble mental images rather than specific places. They evoke states of mind, which can be accessed by means of gentle immersion. By dissolving the borders between the unknown and the intimate, blurring distances and identities, Hans Op de Beeck’s work is a veritable invitation to introspection.
In the manner of still lifes and vanitas, his seductive compositions subtly transport the gaze above and beyond the superficial and, without wallowing in nostalgic romanticism, question the absurdity of our day-to-day existence.
Born in 1969, Hans Op de Beeck lives and works in Brussels. Having completed his studies in visual arts at Sint-Lukas in Brussels in 1996, he has developed a multidisciplinary body of work mixing painting, sculpture, video installation, writing, set design and musical composition. Figuring in the collections of a number of significant institutions in Belgium and abroad, he has also been the subject of numerous exhibitions all over the world. Sea of tranquility, shown at the Argos centre for Media and Art in Brussels in 2010, is currently touring internationally.
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Thomas De Brabanter
A Horror Story
Invited by Hans Op de Beeck, whose exhibition is running concurrently in the Museum, Thomas De Brabanter presents a series of composite works in Botanique’s gallery, under the dramatic title “A Horror Story”.
A Horror Story is first of all the title of a short text written by the artist. An intrigue, more poetic than terrifying, in which an individual witnesses the progressive disappearance of the landscape around him.
Based on this story, Thomas De Brabanter has produced several drawings, in which his delicate touch showcases a masterful technique and an elegantly sober style.
A Horror Story is also a video, composed entirely of digital elements. Following the fluid movement of an imaginary camera, Thomas de Brabanter sweeps through the spaces described in the story. The action is notable by its absence, but the locations are far from empty. As he explores them, traces of past stories appear here and there, while at the same time we catch glimpses of stories to come. By skilfully guiding our gaze, the artist opens the way for an infinite number of possible developments and pathways.
Fascinated by the interplay of narrative construction and deconstruction, Thomas De Brabanter produces works which show great artistic maturity. By questioning the arbitrary aspect of the elements that make up a story, he knowingly opens a fissure into the absurd.
Thomas De Brabanter lives and works between Antwerp and Brussels. Coming out of the Fresnoy studio of contemporary arts in 2012 after a Masters at Sint-Lukas in Brussels, he has participated in several collective exhibitions, including Pop-Up. Liens artistiques, at the Ixelles Museum in 2012, as well as, very recently, Youth: portraits of artists, between freedom and fight, at the Maison Particulière in Brussels (2014). Thomas De Brabanter also made a short film entitled Un film de Thomas De Brabanter with the actors Mathieu Amalric and Marieke Dilles, produced in 2011 and shown notably at the Milano Film Festival in Italy (2012).
Excerpt from “a horror story”
“ Jim is in a field adjacent to a forest. He seems agitated. He stares at a house in the distance. He squints.
He can just barely make out the silhouette behind the window. He checks his watch.
An elderly bearded man sits behind a wooden table. On the table is a steaming hot cup of coffee and several sheets of blank paper. Behind the man is a window looking out over a rural landscape.
We cannot see what he is doing, but we see him drinking his coffee and using writing utensils. He is working on something.
The landscape outside starts to change.
Jim is still staring at the window.
“I wonder how long he’s been there”
He asks himself out loud.
He checks his pockets one by one. He panics. He checks his inside pockets and pulls out his car keys.
He chuckles, visibly relieved.
Image: Hans Op de Beeck, Night time, 2014, videostill
Le Botanique - Cultural centre of the French Community
Rue Royale, 236 1210 Bruxelles Belgium
From wednesday to sunday: 12.00 - 20.00
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