05 june 2020, Flor Linckens
Art Brussels Online Platform | Part 3
Art Brussels, the most important Belgian fair for contemporary and modern art, will take place online this year due to the Coronavirus outbreak. During the next three weeks, GalleryViewer.com will show artworks from more than a hundred galleries that have been selected by Art Brussels. New works are added every Thursday. In this article we highlight a number of works that are on show.
Mohsen Gallery | Mojtaba Amini
Iranian artist Mojtaba Amini is known for his morbid installations, paintings and sculptures. Amini uses his art as a way to process traumatic childhood memories, while simultaneously reflecting on situations in which people are forced to flee their homeland. Death, dread and departure are recurring themes in his work. He uses materials such as leather, iron, sheepskin, soap, camel wool and animal glue. For this installation, Amini was inspired by the work of the famous 18th century artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi and in particular by his dark portrayals of underground prisons. These are characterised by gothic architecture, mysterious wheels and ropes and torture instruments. Amini: “Every dark and ludicrous decoration is reproduced. After these designs, I made pendants reminiscent of those hanging from the ceilings of churches, temples and mosques. They are luminous and gaudy. I added little bits and pieces to them and removed things from them. And I painted it all black.” Find more work by this artist in the online booth of in de online booth of Mohsen Gallery.
Mojtaba Amini, khalgh Aviz, 2014, Mohsen Gallery.
When Romanian artist Dan Perjovschi was selected to represent his country at the Venice Biennale in 1999, he came across some difficulties: he didn’t have adequate budget for making new work or for the transportation of his existing work to Venice. He decided to draw directly on the pavilion floor, which effectively meant the starting point of his distinctive visual language. In his seemingly simple doodles (drawing on his experience as a political cartoonist) he raises a variety of social, economic and political subjects as well as a critique on the art world itself. Growing up in communist Romania, his freedom after the fall of the regime is still deeply felt by the artist. “Everything was controlled and censored. I had no idea graffiti existed.” His work is represented by Michel Rein.
PERJOVSCHI Dan, EXIsT, 2019, Michel Rein.
WHATIFTHEWORLD | Lakin Ogunbamow
Nigerian photographer Lakin Ogunbanwo works on the intersection of fashion photography and classical portraiture. For his project ‘Are We Good Enough’ he documented the hats worn as cultural signifiers by different ethnic groups in Nigeria. “I’ve felt a need to document the complexities of my culture to resist the West’s monolithic narrative of Africa.” Visually, his work, characterized by vibrant colors and bold compositions, is a minimalist tribute to the African studio photography that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. His work was featured in The New Yorker, Vogue Italia, New York Times, British GQ and ID online. His work is on show in the online booth of WHATIFTHEWORLD.
Lakin Ogunbanwo, Watch Out, 2015, WHATIFTHEWORLD.
De Israëlisch-Deense schilder en beeldhouwer Tal R staat bekend om zijn uitbundig gekleurde werken die zowel geïnspireerd zijn op beroemde historische stromingen als het symbolisme, fauvisme en expressionisme, maar ook door art brut en kunst door kinderen. Op het eerste oog lijkt zijn werk gekenmerkt door een kinderlijke eenvoud, maar daar onder schuilt een subtiele complexiteit. Zijn werken doen wild, levendig, speels en soms absurdistisch aan. “Ik schilder een beetje zoals mensen een lunchdoos vullen. Ik heb constant een hete pot op het vuur waar ik allerlei materiaal in gooi.” Hij beschrijft zijn kunst zelf met het Hebreeuwse woord ‘kolbojnik’, een term die wordt gebruikt om het afval en de overblijfselen te beschrijven die ontstaan aan het eind van een diner. Tal R ziet daarin met name het creatieve potentieel. Zijn werk wordt vertegenwoordigt door Tim Van Laere Gallery.
Tal R, Pauline, 2020, Tim Van Laere Gallery.
Gallery FIFTY ONE | Stephan Vanfleteren
The Israeli-Danish painter and sculptor Tal R is known for his vividly coloured works that are influenced by famous historical movements such as Symbolism, Fauvism and Expressionism, as well as Art brut and children’s art. At first glance, his work seems to be characterised by a childlike simplicity, but underneath that lies a subtle complexity. His works are wild, lively, playful and sometimes absurd. “I do painting a bit like people make a lunch box. I constantly have this hot-pot boiling and I throw all kinds of material into it.” He defines his art with the Hebrew word ‘kolbojnik’, a term used to describe the rubbish and leftover that are generated at the end of a dinner. Tal R sees a lot of creative potential in that. His work is represented by Tim Van Laere Gallery.
Stephan Vanfleteren, Brussels, 2004, Gallery FIFTY ONE.
The online platform for Art Brussels will be live on Gallery Viewer until June 15.
