Les collections

Flor Linckens

5 x the valuable in the worthless

“I shop, therefore I am.” Who isn’t familiar with Barbara Kruger's iconic work from 1987? Consumerism has been a rewarding subject for artists for years. From Warhol's soup can to Banksy's “Jesus Christ with Shopping Bags”. Or how about the fake Prada store that Elmgreen & Dragset installed in the middle of the Texan desert! Yet as consumers, many of us are becoming increasingly conscious of the objects that we surround ourselves with. Some people invest in a luxury design classic instead of adhering to fast fashion trends — did you know that garments are only worn 7 times in Europe, on average? Others are more rigorous: they unsubscribe from all advertising newsletters, sell their entire household effects and live off the grid in a tiny house or a camper. Artists are known for offering us a fresh set of eyes when it comes to societal issues. Are they able to make us see things differently? For instance those objects that are so mundane that they’ve effectively become invisible?

Bouke de Vries

3 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 4 Oeuvres disponibles

3 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 2 Recommandations

Dutch artist Bouke de Vries studied at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and Design Academy Eindhoven. For a while, he worked in the fashion world (for John Galliano, among others), but he decided to specialise his trade to become a restorer of ceramics. Occasionally, he would come across objects that were very beautiful and/or rare, but could no longer be repaired. That is why he decided to switch to deconstruction instead of reconstruction. He begins by making a glass replica of the object's original shape, which he fills with the shards of the original. Sometimes he applies the method of kintsugi, a slow, fifteenth-century Japanese technique in which shards are glued back together with a special lacquer that contains gold. A master of kintsugi does not hide the cracks, but rather, he accentuates them. The object thus becomes more beautiful and valuable, a symbol of healing and resilience. De Vries: “The philosophy behind kintsugi aligns very well with one of the starting points of my practice. I believe that something damaged can still be beautiful. We are happy to accept this in antiquities (the venus de milo is famous partly because she has no arms) but in ceramics, damage is generally frowned upon. With kintsugi, the damage is considered part of a piece’s history: rather than hiding it, it is celebrated as an integral part of that. I try to express that in my own way. My main criterion is that the original object is of good quality.” The result is a work that seems to have exploded and simultaneously refers to classical still lifes and memento mori.

(Galerie Ron Mandos)

Thomas Rentmeister

2 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 19 Oeuvres disponibles

2 Spectacles ᛫ 3 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations

Professor Ursula Panhans-Bühler once described the work of Thomas Rentmeister as “Dirty Minimalism”. The German artist opposes the clean, industrial and perfectly symmetrical look that so often characterises minimalist art. For his sometimes unorthodox sculptures, Rentmeister uses everyday objects, which sometimes capture certain childhood memories or personal associations. Think of packs of milk, washing powder, cotton swabs and rolls of biscuits, but also, as can be seen here, a large number of refrigerator racks. He also previously made an installation in which a shopping basket was buried under an immense mountain of sugar. Rentmeister: “I look for the point where the sweet and the beautiful suddenly turns into disgust, the oppressed and the inappropriate.” In any case, the objects we use on a daily basis are given a completely new context in the hands of this German artist.

(Ellen de Bruijne Projects)

Michael Johansson

1 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 13 Oeuvres disponibles

6 Spectacles ᛫ 6 Points forts ᛫ 1 Recommandations

Michael Johansson:

“We all keep buying new stuff so we can rid of objects even if they are fully functioning or still looking nice but for some reason we want the new version of those. The main reason as to why I mostly work with everyday objects, is that I am interested in the history they hold. This concentration of objects of different origins into one imaginary image of a fabricated reality is much more intriguing for me than the use of newly produced objects purchased at the local supermarket. There is something about knowing that only a limited number of these particular objects is left that increases the unlikeliness of them being morphed together with such a precise fit.”

Swedish artist Michael Johansson creates order by combining objects that he finds at flea markets and thrift shops. He does so in ingenious ways, almost like a puzzle or a "real life tetris". This way, he gives new life to objects like discarded radios and cooling elements, effectively inviting you to look differently at the objects around you, by looking at the them in a sculptural context. In 2018, Johansson had a solo exhibition at Museum Voorlinden.

(Galerie Ramakers)

Casper Braat

1 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 46 Oeuvres disponibles

9 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations

What happens when you add intrinsic value to the objects that are generally considered worthless? The Dutch artist Casper Braat created a series of artworks in which he takes visually unattractive household appliances from our mass-consumption society — from a deep-fat fryer to an iron — to the next level, by executing them in precious materials such as marble and gold. For this series, Braat also used the iconic shape of a dishwasher tablet (including the individual plastic wrapping), partly to make us look critically at our wasteful behaviour. He also wants us to think about why we don’t attach any value to these objects. Just consider the kettle that we immediately replace at the first defect, because repairing it would be more expensive than buying a new one. Plus: Why do we need to experience a sense of impeccable newness with every use? Braat:

“Dishwasher detergent blocks are made for washing dishes in a dishwasher. They often come individually wrapped in plastic that gives a feeling of new to a product that will soon be washed away forever. “DishwasherBlock” is re-imaged in 24K gold and delivers a feeling of newness each time the packaging is opened.”