We are pleased to invite you to the opening of a cabinet of curiosities gathering works on paper from Brussels private collections with the kind participation of collectors Isabelle Bourne, Yolande De Bontridder, Frédéric de Goldschmidt, Cédric Lienart de Jeude, Nathalie Guiot and the knowing look of Anne Pontegnie.
More than 80 artists, including Francis Alÿs, Joël Andrianomearisoa, Louise Bourgeois, Ulla von Brandenburg, Isabelle Cornaro, Wim Delvoye, Mark Dion, Lionel Estève, Paul-Armand Gette, Camille Henrot, Fabrice Hybert, Pierre Le-Tan, Karine Rougier, George Segal, Jim Shaw, Franz West etc.
Collectors in Brussels have agreed to share works on paper. Each collector made a list, and rediscovered buried treasures he or she had forgotten. With almost adolescent excitement, they found themselves; they confronted their gazes; they created associations, bridges… yielding this ephemeral, graphic-heavy cabinet of curiosities, an exhibition that’s a bit trenchant. Over one hundred works by artists from various horizons hang across the walls, unified through the medium of paper and its fragility.
Seen together, this confluence of works questions our identities, our desires, our solitude. It reaches down into the depths of our souls, our bodies and the visceral network that we pretend to overlook.
Traveling into erotic and secret dreams, getting drunk on the frenetic and smoky features of ink and charcoal, or like a voyeur, observing the sexual activities of a clandestine couple, or confronting the shameless exhibitionism of a portrait…
It’s a pictorial journey that displays the exuberance of our beings, of our multiple identities. Living is diluted by the habits we practice… Let’s free ourselves from social pageantry, let down the masks, wander…
To inhabit the intimate is a maze, a labyrinth for those with curiosity; in the intimacy of the domestic space of the Fondation, there are preparatory drawings that shape a collective utopia, others like joyous attempts at mineral or chromatic abstraction, stemming from the lyricism of the artist.
The body is a habitat, idealized, exhibited, mutilated by some demiurgic forces. The psychedelic graphic cabinet envelops and provokes the viewer—there discovering, hopefully, in the infinite interpretations of these proposals, his or her inner sanctum, a part of his or her soul, yin and yang… It’s just turning on the switch.
Benevolent humility by Francis Alys, the bare body by Paul-Armand Gette, the poetry of gesture by Helena Almeida, eruptions by Arnulf Rainer, etc.—an infinite maelstrom, farcical, an invitation to go beyond the borders of good taste.
With thanks to Isabelle Bourne, Yolande De Bontridder, Frédéric de Goldschmidt and Cédric Lienart de Jeude for having unleashed treasures from their secret cabinets, for sharing their passion for art with the public. This contemporary look at the emerging scene is laid out with the kind participation of Anne Pontégnie.
Practical information
Exhibition from Thursday, October 24 to Saturday, November 16, 2019
From Wednesday to Saturday, from 14:00 to 18:00, and by appointment
The Foundation will be closed on November 1st and 2nd
Free entry from 23 to 27 October during the Brussels Drawing Week
More information about the exhibition here.
