Sui Generis

From 19 March to 08 May 2010
Opening 18 March 2010 from 6pm to 9pm

For his next solo exhibition (March 2010) at think.21 gallery, Stephan Balleux will present two specific projects which will be works exclusively on paper.

Continuing his work on paint as a subject in itself, Stephan Balleux develops an allegory of the pictorial medium as a prehension of the world. As he gives access to a type of monstrous beauty, painting becomes above all, a way of questioning the human condition.

The first part of the exhibition opens up to a prop wall covered in black and white images, a set of watercolour drawings depicting the colonial times.

The artist modifies these images by combining, completing and superimposing them in order to divert their original meaning and release a metaphorical and new narrative dimension.This results in a series of works of small sizes where collective stories, personal histories, poetry, humour, fantasy and the view of art unfolds without the spectacular.

The second part of the exhibition radically contrasts with the narrative of the first one. It is composed of charcoal and pastel drawings. Balleux’s works here take the shape of organic forms that are set up within different interior settings.

Their near gigantic format, almost allows a tangible relationship with the image, where one can almost immerse into it.

By re actualizing a traditional topic of the 17th century, «the genre scene», Stephan Balleux pushes the boundaries of this theme to the extreme point where the concept of interior becomes the representation and the metaphor and through this reveals the psychological aspect and the sensitive intimacy of every space.

Young Collectors #2 : JoMo Art Collection Belgium

Young Collectors is a series of three exhibitions with works from three collections from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, including lectures, a symposium and discussions about the function and meaning of young collectors and their approach towards collecting and the art world.

Who are these young collectors ?
What do their collections look like ?
What motivates their choices ?
What is their influence ?
What is the dynamic and communication ?
How do they relate to a museum, a gallery or the idealistic art-initiative ?

In this exhibition, Johan Delcour and Monia Warnez will show works from their collection. In daily life, they are the owners of the professional photolab Fotorama (Wevelgem, Belgium). As curators they were responsible for the exhibition ‘Amusez-vous’ in Gallerie Koal (Berlin, Germany) about the influence of entertainment in the art world. This spring, they are curating ‘Tool’ for the International Fotofestival of Knokke-Heist (Belgium), in which artists using photography to reflect on the illusion which is created by the commercial industry. For the exhibition in Sign, they selected work of Jana Gunstheimer (DE), Michaël Aerts (BE), Anneke Eussen (NL), Adam Leech (USA), Léon Vranken (BE), Kati Heck (DE), Léopold Rabus (CH), Sascha Weidner (DE), Joris Van de Moortel (BE), Veronica Brovall (SE), Stephan Balleux (BE), Artists Anonymous (DE) and Norbert Bisky (DE).

Extra on march 13, 2010 at 3pm : Singelzaal, Radesingel 6, Groningen :
Conversation between Johan Delcour and Monia Warnez and Tanguy Eeckhout, artistic scientific staff member of the Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens at Deurle (Belgium), about the JoMo Art Collection, about the collectors enviroment in Belgium and the relationship between museum, curator and collector.