03 october 2023, Flor Linckens
Art on Paper Brussels
From 6 until 8 October 2023, the international art fair Art on Paper will take place in the impressive Gare Maritime on the Tour & Taxis grounds in Brussels. At one point in history, this building held the distinction of being the largest freight station in Europe and it was constructed in an eclectic style that incorporates elements of Flemish Art Nouveau and Neo-Renaissance. Since then, it has been transformed into an energy-neutral venue with a beautiful and harmonious interior featuring an abundance of wood and greenery. This year, the fair will showcase sixty national and international galleries, each of which will display antique, modern, and contemporary artworks. Six of these galleries are represented on GalleryViewer: Eva Steynen.Deviation(s), rodolphe janssen, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, galerie dudokdegroot, Galerie Bart and Schönfeld Gallery.
Tip: Art on Paper Brussels is taking place as part of the 4th edition of the Brussels Drawing Week (2-8 October), featuring an extensive program of drawing-related activities throughout Brussels.
Eva Steynen.Deviation(s) is presenting works by Benoît Felix, Alice Janne, Johannes Ulrich Kubiak, and Fred Michiels at the fair. In many cases, these are captivating works that people may not immediately associate with work on paper as a medium. Consider Alice Janne's torn synthetic paper that she applied with pigments, or Benoît Felix's frame of which the shadows seem to have taken on a life of their own.
Schönfeld Gallery is showcasing the works of no less than seven artists at Art on Paper Brussels: Tina Berning, Terry Ekasala, Albert Pepermans, Eliza Pepermans, Svelte Thys, Jesse Willems, and Christina Zimpel. This diverse presentation spans from Svelte Thys's highly abstract still lifes to a series of figurative works by Eliza Pepermans, Terry Ekasala, and Christina Zimpel. In Tina Berning's artistic practice, women consistently take center stage. The artist is particularly interested in female identity, imposed femininity, and, in extension, the role of the fashion and beauty industry, as well as women in the media at large. Christina Zimpel's work is inspired by her background in fashion and design, her childhood in Australia, her mother's Hungarian heritage, her grandmother's garden, and her own garden in Brooklyn.
Galerie Maurits van de Laar presents the work of four artists from the gallery at Art on Paper Brussels. This includes abstract paper works from Martin Assig's "Seelen" series, a spiritual series in which the artist delves deeper into life and death and the potential infinity of the soul. In the booth, you can also view some of Henri Jacobs' "Journal Drawings", an ongoing series that the artist has been working on since 2003. These works are presented alongside watercolours by Nour-Eddine Jarram and collage drawings by Susanna Inglada.
rodolphe janssen is showcasing works by various artists, including Leon Wuidar, Sanam Khatibi, George Condo, the twins Gert & Uwe Tobias, and Tom Poelmans. Many of these artists play with (art) historical narratives and visual language. Tom Poelmans became enchanted by Medieval miniatures and pre-Renaissance works by masters like Giotto during an extended visit to Florence. Today, his work draws inspiration from everything from pop culture to art history. Sanam Khatibi's artworks delve into animality, our primal impulses, and power structures, encompassing themes of violence and sensuality. At first glance, her tableaus often seem to take place in a paradisiacal context, but a closer look often reveals a sinister edge. These works create a striking contrast with the abstract and disciplined creations of artists like Léon Wuidar, that pay homage to geometry and architecture.
galerie dudokdegroot presents works on paper by Guy Vording, Vincent Uilenbroek, Sandra Kruisbrink, and Lex ter Braak. Vincent Uilenbroek's "Unfold" series consists of a set of silkscreen prints that the artist carried in his pocket for a while. The folds created a grid that he subsequently accentuates with a new layer of printing. Guy Vording draws inspiration for his practice from stories and forgotten news articles. By covering pages from magazines and newspapers with a layer of black graphite, new narratives emerge, sometimes subtly alluding to what lies beneath the black. The remaining visible words often form the title of the artwork.
Galerie Bart presents the work of three artists who explore the boundaries of their medium: Nomin Zezegmaa, Sanne Maloe Slecht, and Toni van Tiel. Nomin Zezegmaa is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, researcher, and writer who plays with immateriality and embodied and experienced memory in her work. She mythopoetically connects these themes to her Mongolian background. At Art on Paper, Nomin presents four drawings from the series "Embodied Excavation of Mongol Futurist Resilience: Drawing from the Unconscious." Toni van Tiel creates two-dimensional paper works that nonetheless suggest a certain three-dimensionality. His intuitive practice is marked by imaginary monuments and objects in urban space, ranging from bus stops to fountains. Often, a generous dose of humor is involved.
