During the MAART weekend (29-31/03) Camille Dufour printed live monumental woodcarvings on Claessen's canvas, using a piece of soap from Aleppo. She inked each mould only once and printed several copies until the ink was completely used up and the last print, very subtly, was virtually invisible.
Her work formed a month-long performance at a unique location and consists of more than a hundred xylographies on Claessen's canvas. The printed canvases were hung one by one, after printing, to dry in the imposing room.
Her woodcarvings deal with all worldly, recent evil.
The process is a layered physical battle of exhaustion with which Camille Dufour, symbolically, washes away the sins of mankind.
The ultimately formed installation is a monumental silent witness to the performance.
The company Claessens Canvas is a world producer of the very best canvas. The company has been working with the finest Flemish linens since 1905. The production and preparation of Claessens canvas is still almost entirely manual.
Since the beginning of the last century, this company has been at the basis of painting worldwide. The very greatest artists used to paint only on Claessens Canvas.
And that is why Bruthausgallery has an artist create a large-scale in-situ installation every year, in these spaces so layered by history.