Michael Borremans
dal 3/5/2005 al 30/6/2005
Segnalato da
3/5/2005
Michael Borremans
Parasol Unit, London
Paintings of the artist look-straight-forwardly realistic, but beneath the apparent clarity of his images one discovers an unsettling world that calls for closer scrutiny. Many of the paintings render private and unremarkable environments in which human figures appear to be engaged in some simple everyday activity. Time seems to stand still in them and the people are more like still-life figures than living beings.
The Performance
Parasol unit, a new foundation for contemporary art based in London’s East End, will be launched on May 4, 2005 with an exhibition of paintings by the acclaimed Belgian artist, Michael Borremans. The exhibition is being mounted in collaboration with the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (SMAK) in Ghent, Belgium and the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin, Ireland.
At first glance Michael Borremans' paintings look-straight-forwardly realistic, but beneath the apparent clarity of his images one discovers an unsettling world that calls for closer scrutiny. Many of the paintings render private and unremarkable environments in which human figures appear to be engaged in some simple everyday activity. Time seems to stand still in them and the people are more like still-life figures than living beings. The deeper we go into Borremans' imaginary world the more thrilling it becomes.
Borremans' paintings are as well about paint and its infinite potential, about the activity of painting, and about what painting can be and represent. The paintings are also about the endeavour of a painter who can create, on an inanimate canvas, a fascinating world that absorbs the viewer.
Michael Borremans was born in 1963 in Geraardsbergen, Belgium. He lives and works in Ghent.
Michaël Borremans’ work has gained acclaim in the international art world over recent years, but this is the first time his work will be shown in the UK. The exhibition follows other recent exhibits by contemporary Belgian painters Raoul de Keyser at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 2003 and Luc Tuymans at Tate Modern in 2004. Born in 1963, Borremans lives and works in Ghent. In 2004 his work was shown in Manifesta 5: European Biennale of Contemporary Art, San Sebastian, Spain and a touring exhibition of his drawings was organised by the Kunstmuseum Basel, SMAK in Ghent and the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio. The painting exhibition opened in Ghent in February 2005 and after the showing in London will travel to the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin. A full colour book has been published by Hatje Cantz Verlag to accompany the painting exhibition.
Michaël Borremans’ exhibition will be complimented by a programme of events including the screening of Michael Anderson’s 1966 ‘The Quiller Memorandum’ followed by a discussion between the artist and the art critic Adrian Searle. This event will be a collaboration with Artprojx and will take place on Monday 16 May at the Prince Charles Cinema. Other events include poetry reading evenings. On 26 May Mark Ford will read from his work and on 28 June Guy Bennett and Anthony Rudolf will read from their works respectively.
Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art will be housed in a new 800-square metre space on two floors, located next to the Victoria Miro Gallery in Wharf Road, N1, of which 500-square metres will be devoted to exhibitions. Designed by Claudio Silvestrin Architects, the space will open in two stages: the main ground-floor gallery opens in May 2005 and the remaining areas of the building, including an artist-in-residence studio and reading room, in Autumn 2005. The foundation is the brainchild of its founder and director, Ziba de Weck. The not-for-profit space is funded privately with additional support from sponsors and in-kind.
Address: Parasol Unit, 14 Wharf Road, London N1 7RW
Parasol unit
14 Wharf Road - London
Opening hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 6pm
Admission free