Catclub catcalls and a date with Daughter. This weekend in Belgium.
Yours in Solidarity is a project by Dutch artist Nicoline Van Harskamp based on the archive of correspondence written by Karl Max Kreuger, a Dutch anarchist. By examining the relationship between politics, speech, language and its role in civil society, the artist explores such recurrent themes as capitalism, human rights, democracy or neo-liberalism. “Though the notion of ‘reanimating the archive’ is all too often a hollowed-out cliché in contemporary art, Van Harskamp manages to use this archival material to create a convincing portrait of anarchy’s proponents,” writes Frieze Magazine.
The exhibition La Chambre brings together a selection of works that might appear at a first glance to be very different from one another. Belgian-born Steven Baelen and Peruvian but London-based Elena Damiani come together for an exciting show in which the Elaine Levy Project has managed to facilitate an interesting dialogue between the two – a juxtaposition of Baelen’s drawings with Damiani’s genre-crossing creations. An intriguing encounter.
Brussels’ De La Charge is perhaps the most exciting thing happening in Brussels’ emerging art scene at the moment. It’s a project run by 12 artists who use the space not only for exhibitions, but also as a studio space. Currently on show are works by Nicolas Bourthoumieux, Dougie Eynon and Noémie Cornier de Vulpian in a fascinating expo called ‘Off the Wagon’.
Mario Merz was one of the major figures of Arte Povera, an Italian movement of the ’60s and ’70s that focusses on using organic material and found objects. Merz passed away in 2003, and in their obituary, the Guardian newspaper describes the Italian artist’s materials as ‘ordinary’ and ‘poor’, “both natural and manufactured, to create the most poetic, extraordinary effects.” A recurring theme in his work was the idea of a space without limitations and the existence of a harmonious ‘law of becoming’, something that is very evident in this exhibition.
Last year, Antwerp-based photographer Sanne Delcroix shot a series for The Word Magazine inspired by our special on new beginnings – have a look back at it here. The KASK graduate has now scored a solo exhibition in Brussels’ Vertigo Gallery called ‘As for why you’re here it’s because when i saw you walking in the park’. “I’m always searching for a narrative. I love to walk around and let the environment inspire new stories,” says the artist.
The English indie folk trio just released their debut album ‘If you Leave’ last month and have attracted quite a lot of attention. “This is folk, it’s the fucked-up and fucked-around-with variety. Not too much, though – it’s not the avant-garde side of experimental, just a little moody and electronicised, brooding and ambient,” says the Guardian in describing their melancholic, captivating sound. Now you can experience them live on stage at Brussels’ Botanique.
Their debut album, released in 2008, earned them a Mercury Music Prize nomination. “Their latest evolution – more trancey and electrified, with a strong stage presence and pulsing anthems– means Portico Quartet stake claims to territory occupied by Radiohead, Cinematic Orchestra and Efterklang,” the Guardian rightfully gushes. Now you can experience the energetic Londoners live on stage, followed by Belgian imprint Uphigh Collective, who we interviewed for our Grey album here.
“Feldmann, a dedicated archivist, makes a practice of accumulating and assembling everyday objects and images into game-changing arrangements,” is T Magazine’s fitting description of the German conceptual artist’s work. In 2010, Feldmann was awarded the prestigious Hugo Boss Award, which the artist later exhibited in New York’s Guggenheim – tacking 100, 000 used $1 bills to the walls of the museum. This exhibition, hosted by Antwerp’s Galerie Micheline Szwajcer, features a selection of older as well as newer works, taken from a number of different series.
As varied as their individual artistic practices are, this group exhibition, fittingly titled ‘Echo’, creates interesting interactions, or echoes, between the various works. Marie Zolamian shows installations, Guy Woueté creates sculptures from carved wood and industrial objects, while Marc Rossignol is a performer and Michel Couturier focuses on photography and collages.