Art Eco

Abstract

Peter de Cupere showed Factory Tree in the exhibition ART ECO.

ART ECO is project about a particularly sensitive theme many artists perceived before anyone else did, and which they then translated into all sorts of art as an “artistic” derivative of rationales such protest, indignation and (continued) silent faith in the future. The three - part exhibition focuses on art since the 1960s, and presents an ensemble ofhistorical works of art and new productions.

The first part of the exhibition, with the main title Attitudes presents a compact, tentative overview of art and focuses on the themes of sustainability and ecology. The historical core of the first part consists of existing works (small ensembles or otherwise) by Roger Raveel, Guy Mees, Panamarenko, Jef Geys, Leo Copers, Hans Haacke, Joseph Beuys, Jan Dibbets, Ger van Elk, Marinus Boezem, John Cage and Tetsumi Kudo, all from various public and private collections. The Belgian artist Peter De Cupere and the Cameroonian Pascale Marthine Tayou will make new work for the occasion; the American artist Lawrence Weiner presents the existing work “WATER SPILLED FROM SOURCE TO USE” in a new setting. This linguistic work will be on view on the facade of the Cultural Centre, as well as in the Kaaitheater in Brussels (in the con text of the Burning Ice Festival). Throughout the three parts of ART ECO, the artistic production of the Austrian artist Lois Weinberger will function as a leitmotif. Weinberger’s work about herbs and weeds unfolds itself as a praxis and presents itself to today’s world as a metaphor for displacement, migration and activism. For the first part of the exhibition, we are expecting a text by Jeroen Peeters, who currently works as a dramaturge with Damaged Goods/Meg Stuart. The second part of the exhibition will be entitled Architecture; it will present a reflection on architecture and how architects relate to ecology, but also a broader reflection on alternative social organisation, and borders. In this part we will of course show work by artists such as Dennis Oppenheim, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Luc Deleu, Luk Berghe,... in which a similar set of ideas plays. The third part of the exhibition will be entitled Artivism - a concept we borrowed from the Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto — and will present numerous new works by artists from home and abroad. The focus will be on artists that through some sort of activism or militant commitment address the status and relevance of art, within the context of a broader debate about the near - global failure with respect to sustainability and positive climate control. Artists on view: Michelangelo Pistoletto, Piero Gilardi, Johan Grimonprez, Alexis Destoop, Mikail Karikis (tbc), Abbas Akhavan (tbc), Allora & Calzadilla, Hemauer and Keller (tbc), Hesselholdt & Mejlvang.

ART ECO Attitudes: 09.01-12.02.2015 Architecture: 27.02-26.03.2015 Art-ivism: 10.04-12.05.2015

Open every day from 10 am to 10 pm. On Sundays from 10 am to 6 pm. Art Eco is an exhibition by Museumcultuur Strombeek/Ghent. Since January 2013 the Cultural Centre Strombeek works together with the S.M.A.K. in Ghent on a structural basis. Every year, in the course of four consecutive years, the Cultural Centre, under the heading Museum Culture Strombeek/Ghent, will present two projects (a triptych in spring and a diptych in autumn), focusing on a certain theme. For these projects, the Cultural Centre Strombeek will use the collection of the S.M.A.K. — which comprises more than 2,000 works and spans a period of circa sixty years—as well as works from private collections and new works made for the occasion. Museumcultuur Strombeek/Ghent is a unique interregional joint venture that aims to bring a new public in contact with the recent history of art, on the basis of the rich collection of the S.M.A.K. Museumcultuur Strombeek/Ghent is a concept of the Cultural Centre Strombeek. The development and organization of the project take place in close cooperation with the S.M.A.K. Gent.

More info: http://www.ccstrombeek.be/arteco