Kendell Geers
dal 16/3/2007 al 2/6/2007
Segnalato da
B.P.S.22 Space for Contemporary Creation
16/3/2007
Kendell Geers
B.P.S.22 Space for Contemporary Creation, Charleroi-Gilly
Solo show
Solo show
Since its opening in 2000, the B.P.S.22 space for contemporary creation of the
Province of Hainaut, in Belgium, has always given priority to the forms of
contemporary expression that focus on our current society. Therefore, the
exhibitions programme attaches particular importance to those artists who treat
global issues or socio-cultural phenomena, typical of our time (e.g. Jota Castro,
Patrick Everaert, Johan Muyle or Fernando Alvim and Simon Njami’s project Next Flag.
Reexistencia cultural generalizada). Conscious that curatorship today depends upon a
local re-contextualisation of global issues, the B.P.S.22 team approaches its
projects from a critical perspective of the world we live in today. This concept of
culture as a vector of democracy also determines the museum’s acquisition policy.
The collection is not only comprised of old art (e.g. Constantin Meunier) or modern
art (e.g. Renè Magritte), but also a number of contemporary works (e.g.
Fèlix Gmelin, Ar
t Language, Deimantas Narkevicius). This mutual relationship offers an
original perspective. By the end of 2008, the B.P.S.22 will become a permanent
contemporary art museum.
Currently the B.P.S.22 is hosting the first solo exhibition in Belgium of the South
African artist Kendell Geers. At each of his exhibitions, Kendell Geers draws his
inspiration from the regional context to nourish his thoughts. For the exhibition of
Charleroi, two distinct subjects, which can nonetheless be linked, emerged through
historical anecdotes: the political use of violence and the fire. The first comes
from a legend according to which two members of the Bonot gang, Edouard Carouy and
Octave Garnier, are supposed to have lived in Charleroi, at the beginning of the
last century, before joining the famous French anarchist. The second gave the
exhibition its title, “Auto-Da-Fe”, in reference to King Charles II of Spain who, in
1666, had a fortress, named “Charle-roy” in his honour, erected in the village of
Charnoy. In addition, Charles II was the backer of the largest auto-da-fè of
the Spanish Inquisition.
The theme of fire, in the context of Charleroi, acquires a special connotation by
referring to the industry whose high furnaces form an integral part of the landscape
and the history. The historical ambivalence of fire, at the same time purifier and
destroyer, is rediscovered in the allusion to the industrial landscape, where fire
retains the same double meaning. This subject also serves as the guiding principle
for the scenography which, thanks to the flexibility of the enormous stage (1200
meters squared) B.P.S.22 offers, is reconsidered for each exhibition and transforms
the space.
Originally from Johannesburg in South Africa, Kendell Geers was profoundly affected
by apartheid. He will always bear the guilt of this shameful past that he
incorporates into his art. Provocative, through his works he inevitably approaches
moral and political problems, while setting up critical reflection on the context of
art, his methods of exhibition, on the artistic institution and its actors. A
multidisciplinary artist, he creates objects, installations, and video works and
gives performances. A product of his times, he explores and critiques our world head
on, while putting people on guard against the alienation, subversive or obvious,
that the objects, the images and the situations of our daily life can generate.
This exhibition results from a co-production between B.P.S.22 (Charleroi), the
S.M.A.K. (Ghent), the Baltic (Center for Contemporary Art, Gateshead), the Museum of
Contemporary Art of Lyon and the MART (Trento). On the occasion of this cycle of
exhibitions, a new catalogue will be published in June 2007 (texts : Paulo
Herkenhof, Christine Macel, Rudy Langmans and Jèrome Sans).
B.P.S.22 space for contemporary creation
22, Boulevard Solvay - Charleroi