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Manuela Klerkx , Kunstagent, auteur & redacteur Gallery Viewer

Seven art works ‘with an edge’

In a May 2013 article in Trouw, which I accidentally came across online, I read an article entitled "Things (and people) with an edge". Intrigued by the subject, I continued reading: ‘the phrase ‘with an edge’ has become ever more common over the past fifteen to twenty years. Previously we just knew entrecotes 'with an edge of fat', these days there are all sorts of things 'with an edge' of something or another: 'romance with an edge of pathos', 'fast food with an edge of healthiness'. Actually, that's right, I thought. The article also mentioned that we often say that something that is particularly beautiful or successful has "a golden edge" and that something that is being ruined or someone who has a bad record has a "black edge".

Yet, and that was mentioned too, when we simply say 'with an edge' it tends to mean something negative, except when used in combination with art, literature and music because then the edge is exactly what makes us think. Today, I am looking for seven works of art with an edge. And that can be anything: from a detonating element or a different colour to a disturbing sound or a word or image that puts you on the wrong track.

That edge, no matter how annoying or curious, determines why a work of art lasts, and it marks exactly the difference between something you see and something you experience on a deeper level. That is why all edges are in fact golden edges.

Zoro Feigl

1 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 7 Oeuvres disponibles

1 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations

Zoro Feigl seems to constantly wonder why things are going the way they are. And to understand that, he mimics nature, machines or the effects of materials and techniques. His works are typically comprised of industrial materials such as cables, fluorescent tubes, ropes and chains, challenging him to discover new patterns and movements. This way, he makes you a part of his wonder and shows a parallel world that is constantly in motion.
Art Listing’s Indra Devriendt writes about Feigl’s "Twisted Nematics" which is currently on view as part of the exhibition "Sea-change" at Fred&Ferry:

“There’s a rotating disc covered with a layer of temperature-sensitive lacquer mounted to one gallery walls. The hot water flowing over it creates shades of colour and ever-changing patterns. A similar effect is obtained by a rotating oil and dye barrel. We see a gradual overlap from one shape to another. Constantly changing motifs are formed by its continuous movement. The unique appearance, temporality and unpredictability makes us curious about what is to come and keep us captivated.”
Feigl can make a piece of linoleum dance like a ballerina, giving something ordinary a magical edge.

(FRED&FERRY)

Betty Tompkins

0 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 3 Oeuvres disponibles

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The edge in the work of the hard-core feminist painter Betty Tompkins, born in 1945, revolves almost exclusively on photorealistic, close-up images of intimate acts of both heterosexual and homosexual nature. In a time of palling and primness, showing her work won’t get any easier. Her work is regularly censored and her social media accounts blocked just because her art is in your face, outspoken, but above all, political. She is one of the most radical artists I know and her verbal aggression towards Trump and his supporters and her charges of oppression of women lend her art a political edge. But apart from that, it's just an unusually great artist. Check out her instagram account and enjoy quotes such as: "She's an insufferably power-hungry smug bitch". Who would she mean by that?

(Gallery: rodolphe janssen)

Wesley Meuris

0 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 27 Oeuvres disponibles

2 Spectacles ᛫ 1 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations

In the case of Wesley Meuris' work "Probe", the edge seems take on the form of a confrontation. For example, between a shell and a module of a satellite that he built himself. The shell, according to Annie Gentils, a reference to Botticelli's Venus, lies on the module. Still not a logical place for such an object. "Probe" consists of a minimalist, glossy white, functional - in Meuris's imaginary world of orbits and satellites - object. It would make sense to put a TV or a computer on it. But a shell? This natural object is in stark contrast to the soulless, cold object and seems completely out of place there. A natural object is - rightly or wrongly - shown as an artefact and consequently both elements depend on each other: if you look at one you cannot escape the other. When does a natural object become an artifact and, conversely, when does a part of a device designed to drift through the universe become a pedestal? On the basis of objects and constructions developed by him, Meuris examines prevailing thought patterns and power structures and tries to unravel the meanings of architectural and functional constructions. How is our viewing influenced is the crucial question that occupies Meuris. We must look for the subversive edge in Meuris' work in confrontations between existing and non-existing constructions and structures and their disruptive function.

(Gallery: Annie Gentils Gallery)

Thomas Zipp

0 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 5 Oeuvres disponibles

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German artist Thomas Zepp explores the dark edges of the human mind in relation to himself, the other and the world. His sculptures and installations are often complex, consisting of layered and highly imaginative drawings, paintings and objects highlight possible relationships and connections between philosophy, psychology, neurology, history and politics. Suggestive titles such as "ICHist ein EGO-Maschine", "Breaking Bad Habit Patterns" or "Effects of Stimulus-Range and Anchor Value on Psychophysical Judgment (The Laerdal Rehearsals)" come across as quite psychedelic. More technical, but no less enigmatic is the title of the work: "Comparative Investigation about the Disposition of the Width of a Circle", 2013. Most of his works paint an at least disturbing picture of the future of humanity. Not least because the topics often refer to controversial historical figures such as Otto Hahn, founder of nuclear energy, or Martin Luther, who was responsible for the schism in the church and who was at the origin of Protestantism.

(Gallery: Baronian Xippas)

'Paradise II BMW' Palm Tree Light Sculpture

Daan Gielis

1 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 3 Oeuvres disponibles

2 Spectacles ᛫ 4 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations

The tragicomic work of Daan Gielis illustrates the fate of man who is trapped in his own emotions that are as individual and unique as they are universal and banal. We constantly balance on the border between happiness and despondency, longing and disappointment. Emotions also permeate our digital communication all day long in the shape of emojis, however fleeting and superficial they may be. The functional artwork "Paradise Ii Bmw" (Palm Tree Light) consists of a broken palm tree glued back together. A work of art that borders on kitsch, just like the Miami Beach atmosphere that the work suggests. The sad sight of the whole suggests a certain sadness, similar to the one we encounter in our hectic and hedonistic existence. And the lighter the existence, the darker the edge, Gielis seems suggest.

(Gallery: Everyday Gallery)

D.D. Trans

3 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 13 Oeuvres disponibles

4 Spectacles ᛫ 4 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations

Humour is what best describes the work of Belgian artist D.D. Trans. There is no object, however dull, small and unobtrusive, that this artist cannot bring back to life and transform into art. In a seemingly simple way, he strips an object of its original meaning and then turns it into an original art object. Sometimes poetic, sometimes moving but often funny and with a hint of Dadaism, the "edge" in D.D. Trans's work consists of a wink. A nod to design, to art, and to the distinction between the two; to language, to advertising, to customs and clichés, in fact to all the objects with which we surround ourselves. D.D.Trans looks for great meaning in a small gesture. In a thin edge.

(Gallery: Geukens & De Vil)

Eva Stenram

2 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 9 Oeuvres disponibles

2 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations

In "Drape (Colour)" the artist plays a game with the viewer. You find yourself peeping at a pair of legs like a hopeful voyeur, while you know in the back of your mind that it will stop there. The work is part of the "Drape" series for which the artist used pin-up photographs from the '50s and' 60s featuring women in a homely setting surrounded by curtains or sheets. Stenram scanned these images and then digitally edited the curtains and sheets to partially cover the models. The models are thus moved to the background and the curtains and sheets to the foreground, so to speak. And the more that is concealed, the more the spectator fantasizes. This erotic edge in combination with a slight surrealistic touch makes this series particularly attractive. Stemran about his series: “Usually erotic or pornographic images are quite flashy, they easily attract attention and require a response. I was just trying to calm them down, concentrate them in such a way that the viewer pays attention to the whole image. The model largely disappears, but what remains in the image becomes more compelling. The viewer's gaze is distracted and diverted. I wanted to use a sheet or curtain as a barrier between the public and the private. Usually, pin-up images are intimate images intended for mass consumption. By placing the curtain digitally in front of the model, the privacy of the model is on the one hand restored, but on the other hand, (part of her) body is exposed to the public once again.' (From: In The In-Between: Journal of New and New Media Photography, 'Eva Stenram and Surveilling the Veil', Aug 2013)

(Gallery: The Ravestijn Gallery)