STEPHAN BALLEUX (Bruxelles/Brussel - 1974)

An exhibition, a novel, an essay, Stephan Balleux gets his inspiration

from everything that surrounds him. Juggling between disciplines,

he is passionate about photolithography, video animation, plaster

bas-reliefs and painting. In his art, he especially likes to create in

series, declining his work in countless ways.

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> HOLD EVERYTHING DEAR (RESUMPTION) 2015This recent series from Stephan Balleux uses different supports (photolithography, video animation and plaster bas-relief) for one of the “pattern-images” of a painting entitled “Hold Everything Dear”, from which the title has been borrowed from the essay of John Berger about the Resistance. The series is a permanent work line for Stephan Balleux. ×

BERT DE BEUL(Gent – 1961)

Disconcerting in their simplicity, most of Bert De Beul’s nameless

works show scenes from everyday life. He deliberately distances

himself from these images, his main aim being that visitors will

create their own stories.

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> NO TITLE - 1993 Oil on canvas - 46 x 55 cm - acquired in 2011

Through a combination of realism and the purely pictorial, Bert De Beul highlights the contradictory connection between the weight of the reality surrounding us and its fleeting quality, as it is the case with painting. His predilection for simple subjects, executed in a sfumato mode tending towards abstraction, offers us a unique, timeless universe suffused with emotions. ×

EDITH DEKYNDT (Ieper – 1960)

Edith Dekyndt’s work is based on her meticulous observation of the

world around us. Her presentations of nature and physical phe-

nomena appear designed to reveal things that we do not perceive

at first sight. Through videos, drawings, sculptures and photographs,

her creations establish a link between art and science.

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> ONE SECOND OF SILENCE, PART 04 (Rotterdam) - 2009Ed. 4/5, video projection, no sound, 20’28’’

A video-maker, photographer, drawer and sculptor, the visual artist Edith Dekyndt probes the imperceptible links between facts and the way they are represented. The artist’s piercing eye highlights the ephemeral phenomena, invisible events and fleeting experiences that escape the common gaze, revealing them in a delicate and intimate aesthetic. ×

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> 3 JUIN 2011 - 2011Blue ballpoint pen on paper - 20 x 30 cm - acquired in 2012

An artist with a sensitive, intimate approach, with this work Edith Dekyndt offers visual evidence of an emotional state, as revealed by the automatic, patient marking made with a blue ballpoint pen on a fine sheet of paper. This may be a metaphor for time moving on, deterioration and fragility, as well as the aggressive, inevitable manner of time’s passing. ×

WIM DELVOYE (Wervik – 1965)

Wim Delvoye owes his success to a provocative piece of work :

the “Cloaca” is a symbolic installation that reproduces the human

digestive system and fecal matter. A visual artist by profession, he

likes to mix religious references with Flemish traditions, particularly

through his techniques.

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> KISS 5Photographs - cibachrome on aluminium - 100 x 125 cm - acquired in 2003

Wim Delvoye is undoubtedly one of the world’s best-known living Belgian artists. His famous work, “Cloaca”, is a re-creation of the human digestive system that produces fecal matter, which is then decanted into Plexiglass containers and sold as works of art. Provoca-tive in his approach, he likes to mix the trivial with the sacred. With “Kiss”, he reduces the timeless theme of love to a medical and dental level, as we see the kiss of a couple via two X-rays of their skulls. ×

A VISION ON CONTEMPORARY ART

A P U B L I C C O L L E C T I O N

24.04 15 » 28.06 15

For the third consecutive year, the Atomium will be showcasing

works by contemporary artists as part of the Art Brussels event.

Artview is a focus rather than an exhibition, a meeting-point

for art lovers, professionals and the general public. This year,

Artview#3 is centered on the collection at the Musée d’Ixelles,

presenting a selection of works by ten internationally known

artists all based in Belgium. With sculptures, paintings, videos

and photographs, it offers a varied overview of contemporary

art in Belgium.

MICHEL FRANÇOIS(Sint-Truiden – 1956)

Michel François is a complete artist. With his videos, photos, sculp-

tures and paintings his imaginative vision pushes the boundaries

as he explores the fragility of the world, the impact of a gesture

and the phenomenon of cause and effect.

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> DOMESTIC - 2008Mixed techniques (hanging structure, broken ceramic pieces, ropes) - 175 x 110 x 73.5

(variable measurements) acquired in 2012

An internationally renowned visual artist, Michel François has deve-loped a multidisciplinary, polymorphous body of work. Photographs, videos, installations, sculptures and drawings are treated separately or combined to create hybrid, unclassifiable works, undeniably rich in terms of both plasticity and concept. In the same tradition as “Souffles dans le verre”, the hanging piece “Domestic” captures the balancing point, poised between weight and weightlessness, the commonplace and the unusual, of a material which has been dis-torted in order to unsettle observers, inducing them to see a different world, or to see this world differently. ×

GEERT GOIRIS (Bornem – 1971)

Geert Goiris surrealist creations transport the spectator to a strange

world. His photographs tell a story, his main themes centering on evo-

lution, man’s exploitation of nature, and fiction.

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> WHITEOUT 3 - 2008Lambda print - ed. 4/5, 50 x 60 cm - acquired in 2011

In the manner of an explorer, Geert Goiris has created detailed photographic documentation of a world bordering on the surreal. A combination of plain objectivity and artistic extrapolation, Goiris work presents a strange, ambiguous universe imbued with great poetic power. ×

ANN VERONICA JANSSENS (Folkstone – 1956)

Ann Veronica Janssens is a visual artist whose minimalist images

tend to alter our conventional perceptions. Her work is multi-disci-

plinary, comprising installations, film projections and sculpture.

Her creations are designed to convey emotion through a play of

light and shapes.

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> NO TITLE - 2001Steel - diameter 79.5 cm - acquired in 2002

Through her installations, Ann Veronica Janssens creates subtle plays on sensation, perception and emotion. Her focus is on the ephemeral and the immaterial ; she brings a personal perspective

to physical and natural phenomena such as light, fog, colour and form, in order to disrupt boundaries and re-examine our perception of the space that surrounds us. ×

XAVIER MARY(Liège – 1982)

Xavier Mary’s sculptures present a mixture of contradictions.

Combining the old with the new, and the real with the unreal, he

works with shapes and colours in an innovative, minimalist spirit.

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> MODERN INDUSTRIAL UNITS - CA. 2007Mixed technique - painted metal units - 110 x 180 x 110 cm - acquired in 2009

Xavier Mary is one of the most active figures on Belgium’s contem-porary art scene. In the wake of minimalism, he carries out radical experiments with form by making use of materials and objects from the modern industrial age, questioning the references and the objective criteria we apply when classifying an item as commonplace or, conversely, as a work of artistic merit. ×

JEAN-LUC MOERMAN (Bruxelles/Brussel – 1967)

Internationally known for his abstract, offbeat works, Jean-Luc

Moerman is inspired by graffiti, mangas, abstract painting and

new technology. His work reflects his mastery of highly diverse

artistic media; his creations are executed on a variety of supports

and include famous photographs, which he transforms.

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> CONNECTINGTHINGS - 2008Metal - 180 x 180 cm - acquired in 2008

The work of Brussels-born Jean-Luc Moerman is multiform, expansive, and in a constant state of transformation. Drawing his inspiration from graffiti, American comics, Pop culture and the world of hip-hop music, Moerman has developed an abundant body of graphic work. He makes use of every kind of surface (traditional, interiors, everyday objects and so on) to create an effect of organic effervescence. ×

CINDY WRIGHT (Herentals – 1972)

Sometimes described as morbid and intriguing, her photorealist

works create a link between the real and the abstract.

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> SNOWWHITE - 2009Oil on canvas, 200 x 315 cm, acquired in 2009

Cindy Wright explores the limitations of perception and of artifacts; situated midway between hyperrealism and abstraction, her work ultimately questions the status of the artistic object in this age of ubiquitous digital images. ×

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