Interested in the process of collecting as a reflection/expression of the owner’s identity, we are pleased to present the third edition of ‘Private Collection Selected By’, a collaboration where a gal- lery artist selects works from a collection of which he is also a part to bring it into an ensemble with available works of its own.
In previous editions, Anneke Eussen selected from the collection of Tanguy & Bieke Van Quickenborne and Derek Sullivan from the collection of Anny De Decker. This time we invited Hans Vandekerckhove (BE, 1957) to select works from the collection of Paul & Marie-Rose Declercq- Benoot, which focus on historical as well as emerging and contemporary Belgian art.
Hans Vandekerckhove is premiering a series of unseen and new paintings, including the series ‘The
Rainbow and the Mountain.’ He says:
‘The mountain is a place of solidified energy, where in the silence of thought you hear the possible answers.
Seeing a rainbow in the sky is a wonderfully paradoxical thing, requiring both sun and rain to see the limitless color spectrum.
The mountain and the rainbow are emblematic of the passionate collector couple Paul and Marie-Rose Declercq-Benoot: modest depth and colorful zest for life are the two thrusters of their art collection. Gentle melancholy and southern temperament come together in a unique symbiosis, of which the exhibition ‘The Rainbow and the Mountain’ provides a fragmented blueprint in a playful dialogue with new or previously unseen work by Hans Vandekerckhove.
Here, solidification versus fluidity, alienation versus engagement, obscurity versus transparency, nature experience vs. intimacy and reality vs. displacement, the guiding principles.
The exhibition expresses one of the essences of this corona era: the search for the sublime in the wonderful, each in our small enclosed worlds.’ - Hans Vandekerckhove
Vandekerckhove is a painter pur sang and focuses on motifs with a deep-rooted tradition in Western visual art: the Rückenfigur, the gardener, the garden and horticulture, greenhouses, bridges and related architectural motifs, the Hieronymus motif, the girl figure, the romantic landscape, the totem animal, the sacra conversation and the annunciation motif. He is a romantic and individualist who evolved from a neo-expressionist style (early 1980s) to a quasi-abstract image inspired by alchemical motifs (1990s) and then, from 1998 onwards, returned to figuration and substantive themes. Vandekerckhove focuses on the pictorial relationship between motif and background and people and environment.
Hans Vandekerckhove (BE, 1957) lives and works in Ghent, Belgium. His works are highly appreciated by intstutions, collectors, fellow-artists and art enthusiasts both in Belgium and abroad. Public collections who purchased his works include The Central Bank of Europe (GE), Belfius Art CollectIon (BE), Flemish Government (BE), Fortis Bank and Insurances (NL/SP), The Phoebus Foundation (BE), Museum Minden (GE), Mu.ZEE Ostend (BE), Museum Kortrijk (BE), Nestlé (DE), National Bank of Belgium (BE) and University of Antwerp (BE). His painIngs are part of private collections in Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain and the US. Throughout his career, Vandekerckhove has had numerous solo exhibitions both in galleries and museums, amongst which MKM Duisburg (DE), SMAK Ghent (BE), Mu.ZEE (BE) and Museum Xanten (DE).
‘Private Collection Selected By #3’ presents works by: Rob Buelens / Fleur De Roeck / Lisse Declercq / Christian Dotremont / Bendt Eyckermans / Karin Hanssen / Anne Marie Laureys / Paul Madeline / Panamarenko / Karl Philips / Reniere & Depla / Roger Raveel / Robbert&Frank Frank&Robbert / Charline Tyberghein / Carole Vanderlinden / Rinus van de Velde / Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven / Floris Van Look / Tinus Vermeersch / Lisa Vlaemminck / Tim Volckaert
& new and unseen paintings by Hans Vandekerckhove