04 april 2023, Flor Linckens
Last chance: an exciting collaboration in Otegem
Until 7 April, FRED & FERRY (Antwerp), BARBÉ (Ghent) and Waldburger Wouters (Brussels) are presenting an exhibition at Platform 6a in Otegem, near Kortrijk. The three galleries have united under the name ARCHIPEL and will organise various exhibitions outside their usual gallery spaces. Platform 6a, where the first exhibition is currently on show, offers an exciting mix of private and corporate art collections — including those of Marc Coucke and previously those of Tanguy & Bieke Van Quickenborne — and artistic collaborations with galleries and artists. The exhibition 'La Primavera' ('Spring') is the first part of a four-part series at this location.
FRED & FERRY shows work by Leyla Aydoslu, Maxime Brigou and Liesbeth Henderickx in 'La Primavera'.
Leyla Aydoslu makes idiosyncratic, assembled sculptures with an architectural context. Her robust, yet elegant sculptures always relate to the scale of the human body and to the space in which her works are displayed. The artist regularly uses waste and discarded (building) materials, which she then processes experimentally: partly deliberately, partly premeditated.
Maxime Brigou presents a series of mysterious paintings in a surprising combination of materials: from plastic to plaster and oil paint. The paintings are covered with a milky layer, which imbues the whole with something mysterious and enigmatic.
Liesbeth Henderickx shows several autonomous sculptures in the exhibition. Her work is often an ode to the romantic idea of craftsmanship. In her work, the artist approaches this craftsmanship in a poetic way, but she uses unusual material for this: in this case steel wire.
BARBÉ presents work by Willem Boel, Charlie De Voet and Joost Pauwaert in the exhibition.
Willem Boel makes rebellious yet useless sculptural machines. In the exhibition he presents, among other things, a device with taut textile surfaces that suggest that the device is used to capture energy. Because Boel uses found objects for his machines, they look a bit as if they were put together in a post-apocalyptic era. As a viewer it is impossible not to imagine the potential effect of his works.
Joost Pauwaert is known for his violent kinetic installations in which beauty and danger come together. In Platform 6a he shows several works from his series "A New Study For An End Of The World", which are marked by black landscapes in apparent war zones, only lit up by mustard-yellow explosions. During the opening of the exhibition, the artist set up a machine outside full of auditory and visual violence: from smoke and lught flashes to explosions and thunderstorm sounds. After the opening, the device was displayed in the exhibition as a sculpture.
"Seasonal Painting with Greetings" by Charlie De Voet is seemingly endlessly deep. The brown-orange painting consists of countless layers that have been applied in short succession. Because the underlying layers were not yet completely dry, a certain texture is created in the skin of the painting.
The exhibition shows work by Leyla Aydoslu, Willem Boel, Elen Braga, Maxime Brigou, Charlie De Voet, Matthias Dornfeld, Liesbeth Henderickx, Jean Katambayi Mukendi and Joost Pauwaert.
Tip: In space 3 of Platform 6a you can also view an exhibition by Keteleer Gallery. Sybren Vanoverberghe, one of the artists represented by the gallery, invited ten other artists to show their work for this occasion. His own work is displayed in the lobby.
