Travelling around Europe with our artists…
Venice, Italy – 17th Venice Biennale of Architecture
On view at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennial until 21 November 2021 : The Bees Architecture by Slovakian Rotterdam-based artist Tomáš Libertíny is built on a co-creative process. Nefertiti bust sculpture was created by 60.000 honeybees based on the 3D model of the original portrait of the Egyptian queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. So called Eternity, this unique piece, 2019-20, is made of natural beeswax, wood, glass, corten steel, 230 x 100 x 100 cm.
Part of the “Made by Bees” series, there are also The Gate and The Dome. Those beeswax sculptures are fragile yet extremely sustainable, as natural beeswax is one the most durable natural materials and can potentially last thousand of years without deterioration. The old Egyptians used beeswax when embalming, for mummification of their pharaohs and for retaining the permanency of wig curls, for preserving the papyrus scrolls and to protect paintings. The wrappings of Egyptian mummies contained beeswax. Beeswax was mentioned in 32 prescriptions, given in a papyrus, compiled in Egypt about 1550 BC. The ancient Persians used wax to embalm the dead, while the ancient Romans modelled death masks and life-size effigies from beeswax. The world mummy derives from a Persian word meaning wax. Archaeologists have recently found traces of beeswax in Ancient African pots, dating from 3500 years ago.
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On view on Murano Island at Berengo Art Space until 21 November: Kiki van Eijk & Joost van Bleiswijk are exhibiting their new glass sculptures at the occasion of 17th Venice Biennale of Architecture, among other artists and designers such as Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, nendo, Maarten Baas, India Mahdavi, John Pawson, Sam Baron, Dan Yeffet, Sebastian Brajkovic…
This unique exhibition “Glass to Glass” brings together the worlds of contemporary art and design through the medium of glass Celebrating contemporary artists and designers working with Murano glass today, Fondazione Berengo and Wonderglass have a shared passion for revitalising Muranese traditions and contemporary glass. Conceived by internationally acclaimed designers and artists in collaboration with the glass artisans of Murano, a selection of works are presented at Fondazione Berengo’s Art Space in Murano and at the Farmacia, home of Berengo Collection, near San Marco, one of the oldest standing pharmacies in Venice dating back to the early 18th century.
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Hornu (Mons) Belgium – CID Hornu
Kaspar Hamacher, Mother Earth / Mère Terre, solo exhibition, museum show at CID Hornu (Mons), 27 .6-27.9.2021,
Exhibition in collaboration with Spazio Nobile & TLmag
Kaspar Hamacher (Eupen, °1981) takes nature as the starting point in his day-to-day life as a sculptor and a designer of artistic furniture. Monoxyle purity blooms from sylvan beauty. Raised amongst the trees by his forest ranger father, in the Eastern Cantons of Belgium, he has forged his path through the world of art and design, winding along between sculpture and the contemporary applied arts. Far from the rush of our digital world, Kaspar Hamacher creates a close and unique connection with each fragment of trunk he sculpts, crafting unique stamped pieces, from his own creative mastery.
Somewhere between art and design, he deliberately focuses on the object in all its physical strength, as a “maker” rather than a conceptual designer. His abilities with wood as a living material are the fruit of his energy and his imagination: whether working with a tree trunk or branch, or a piece of leather, for him it is essential to respect the authenticity at every step of the creative process. In his design approach, which he calls “Die Werkstatt” (The Workshop) since his exhibition at Spazio Nobile in 2017, Hamacher always aims to produce a piece that is both unique and personal, with a strong meaning and added soul. Le Sacre de la Matière is reflecting his quest for authenticity and Mother Earth is at the heart of his identity.
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Lille, France – Lille 3000
Bela Silva, La Dame au Corset – Pigment Walk, Colors etc, Le Tri Postal, Lille, 19.5-14.11.2021, in collaboration with Designmuseum Gent. The exhibition Colors, etc. in Tripostal, Lille focuses on experiencing colors. It will tickle all our senses and visitors will be invited to explore, feel, feel, hear, colour through a series of immersive installations. Can you feel a colour, can you smell a colour, can you hear a colour … ? To these kind of questions you can find answer visiting the Colors, etc. exhibition. Several artists and designers are invited to create an installation in situ, all focussed on different aspects of colour; light & colour, sound & colour, psyche & colour…
In the Kleureyck exhibition, the point of departure was the Jan van Eyck’s skilful use of colour, which is fully revealed in all its glory during the restoration of the Ghent Altarpiece. Using oil paint and transparent, coloured glazes, van Eyck was able to achieve an innovative variety of colour nuances, clarity and saturation in his paintings. His inspiring use of colour is the starting point for a selection of national and international designers. They all share an affinity with ‘colour’. At the Tripostal there are several installations presented in Ghent, including more than 100 objects that make up the “Pigment Walk”. The visitor is led to consider design in all its forms…and all its colours. Curator: Siegrid Demyttenaere
Read the interview here, icw Sofie Lachaert for the Pigment Walk.
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Textielmuseum Tilburg, The Netherlands
Until 12 September, Kiki van Eijk, Imaginings. A central theme that runs across the museum’s installation is the importance of landscape and nature in Van Eijk’s artistic practice; Works such as Memories of a Panorama, a series of four large wall tapestries that were made at the Textile Museum in 2013 and reflect the beauty and softness of the Dutch landscape as recalled from Van Eijk’s memories, or Transitions, a four-panel Jacquard weaving that is inspired by the subtle shifts of light and colours that come with the change of seasons, reflect this symbiotic relationship that Van Eijk has with her natural surroundings.
Drawing and sketching has always been an essential part of van Eijk’s creative process, from initial inspiration to working through ideas for larger works. Examples of these works on paper are found throughout the installation showing how, for example, the weeds popping up between stones in her backyard inspire a rug collection or the vegetables growing in the garden are the source for limited edition tea-towels. Viewers can engage with her drawings even further through the use of an interactive lightbox that allows them to zoom into the details of the works. Extract from a text by Blaire Dessent for TLmag. Photos by Roos Pierson. More reading on Kiki van Eijk
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Vandalorum, Museum för Konst och Design, Värnamo, Sweden
Until 19th September, Archipelago’s 26m long tapestry by Kustaa Saksi is on tour around Europe after Designmuseo, Helsinki. Europe. Commissioned by the Finnish government, Archipelago by Kustaa Saksi is a bespoke, large-scale woven tapestry measuring 26 m by 2 m, which will be on display in the Europa building for the duration of Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Made at the TextielLab in Tilburg in the Netherlands, this extraordinary and unique Jacquard weaving artwork is an abstract depiction of a Finnish archipelago, with its stones, islands and water. The work is inspired by natural forms such as the microscopic details of leaf surfaces, tree bark patterns, and flower petals, with a rhythmic repetition of tree trunks, flowing water, reflections, lichen shapes, and floral decoration. Abstract and imaginative, exotic and wild, the main colours of blue and green are interwoven, with a few accents of orange and black which intensify the visual impression. With its swirling yarns, Saksi’s weaving has almost a 3D effect. The textile installation consists of a horizontal composition of eighteen aluminium-framed panels mounted side-by-side, each measuring approximately 1.3 m by 2 m, creating an impressive imaginary landscape, a dreamed archipelago. Read Saksi’s interview here.
Featured in the exhibition: Alvar Aalto, Iman Aldebe, Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe, COMPANY, Ingrid Dessau, Sverre Fehn, Rasmus Fenhann, Kaj Franck, Josef Frank, Glimpt, Saara Hopea, Karen Ihle & Jens Eliasen, Fujiwo Ishimoto, Maija Isola, Arne Jacobsen, Ville Kokkonen & Harri Koskinen, Samu-Jussi Koski, Henrik Kubel, Yrjö Kukkapuro, Anne Mette Larsen, Lisa Larson, Bruno Mathsson, Antti & Vuokko Nurmesniemi, Margrethe Odgaard, Masayoshi Oya, Raili & Reima Pietilä, Grete Prytz Kittelsen, Åsa Pärson, Tina Ratzer, Anders Herwald Ruhwald, Ingegerd Råman, Kustaa Saksi, Kyllikki Salmenhaara, Ramona Salo Myrseth, Johanna Seelemann & Björn Steinar, Brynjar Sigurðarson, Ilmari Tapiovaara, Mats Theselius, Jørn Utzon, Hans J. Wegner
