Musee Magritte Museum - Brussels, BE

I recently made a trip to Brussels to visit several exhibitions/museums, one of which being the new Magritte Museum (in conjunction with the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium).

Musee Magritte Museum if fortified with a vast collection of his works, representing all periods for a versatile and complete retrospective. The museum is merely a branch of the vast of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, which has slowly been acquiring Magritte's life's work via purchases and donations. 40 years after the artist's life, he museum opened its doors in May 2009. The exhibition also includes many works of Magritte's comrades and contemporaries, as well as magazine clippings, publications, posters, photographs, etc. documenting the artist's life.

Magritte is without stating, one of the most influential surrealists and Belgian artist of all time. His work is one so commonly known by people from all walks of life; a name as recognizable (or works, rather) as the likes of Picasso, Dali, Kahlo. It was a pleasure bearing witness to some of his works. His works have always been those that I have known and admired, but my interest has been fully renewed and I have found great inspiration. Magritte was an artist with a voracious appetite for creating works, absorbing thoughts ideas, and experimenting with some of the most controversial art movements in Modernism .

The collection is divided into 3 sections

1898::1929

Following Magritte's work through his earliest encounters with art (impressionistic in style), studies at the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts (1916-1918), his constructivist period, encounters with the '7 Arts' group, futurism, cubism, and his first encounter with surrealism (works of de Chirico), Antwerps avant-garde, his marriage to Georgette, moving to Paris and his friendships with the likes of Andre Breton, Louise Aragon, E.L.T. Mensens, Paul Nouge, Camille Goemans, etc.

*Portrait of Pierre Bourgeois

1920

*Drawing of Georgette

1924

Untitled Collage

1926

Panorama Populaire

1926

[a personal favorite]

*Les Prince de Objects

1927

L'Usage de La Parole

1927

[an example of his Words and Images]

*Muscles of the Sky

1927

Samuels Catalogue

1927

[prime example of Magritte drawing; applied to advertisement and illustration]

*Portrait of Paul Nouge

1927

False Mirror

1928

La Trahison des Images

1928-29

*The Treachery of Images (This Continues to Not Be a Pipe)

1952

1930::1950

Magritte's return to Brussels, "Idiotic Works" (advertising), Concept of image and its repetition, Communist Party in Belgium, Laying low during WW2; 'sunlight' surrealism, 'Vache' period, etc.

*Primevere

1929

[Idiot Works]

Portrait of Eluard; White Magic

1936

*Georgette

1937

*Companions of Fear

1942

[Animal/leaves are a common image repeated in many of Magritte's works; I so happen to like owls better than doves]

Elsinore

1944

[part of his Sunlit period; again one of my favorites, and reminds me alot of Clive Barker's Illustrations in the book Abarat]

*Black Magic

1945

*Cover of View Magazine

1946

*Poster for the Festival Mondial du Film et des Beaux-Arts

1947

*Lola de Valence

1948

[Vache Period]

*The Pebble

1948

[Vache Period]

Delusions of Grandeur II

1948

*Giaconda

1953

1951::1967

'The Enchanted Domain', later works, large "Magrittian" images, value of repetition, and my personal favorite section.

*Les Grandes Esperances

???

[exhibited in Enchanted Domain section]

Perspective II: Manet's Balcony

1950

[a whole series of works by famous French Artists, in which the figures are replaced with coffins]

*Art of Conversation

1951

*Listening Room

1953

*The Dominion of Light

1954

*The Sixteenth of September

1956

*Hommage a Eric von Stroheim

1957

*The Battle of Argonne

1959

*Castle in The Pyrenees

1959 (1963?)

[I wrote in my notebook, "I can't believe I am standing in front of this painting right now"]

*Domain of Arnhaim II

1962

*Clairvoyance

1962

[incredibly smooth and graphic, lack of brushstrokes, and strong presence; a personal favorite]

*Good Faith

1964

*Seen at Musee Magritte Museum

A cute video on the Museum

More Information on Magritte:

• Musee Magritte Museum
• All things Magritte (a great biography and retrospection)

Until Next Time,

Laura

M HKA

Sorry for lack of posts, everyone. Its been one heck of a week, with midterm reviews, school closing for Easter Vacation (Passavacantie - 2 weeks) and having friends and relatives come in and out of town all week, and doing a bit of traveling myself. I will be backtracking a bit in my art explorations, as to catch up on all the exhibitions I have seen.

On the 3rd Thursday of every month in Antwerp, all of the local galleries and museums hold openings for all of the new exhibitions. With drinks and hors d'oeuvres, ambling through the streets of Antwerp; you could say it is the authentic European experience. On this particular Thursday, I made it just to the Museum of Contemporary Art (Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen - M HKA) to see their current exhibition:

Animism

(1/22/2010 - 5/2/2010)

Part One

A Collaboration between Extra City and M HKA @ M HKA Antwerpen, BE

(5/2010 - 7/2010)

Part Two

@ Kunsthalle Bern

The exhibition/publication project that is Animism showcases the reemergence of animism as a concept vital to contemporary times. The concept outlined by 19th century Anthropologists, such as Sir Edward Tylor (1871 book Primitive Cultures), suggest that animism is the "the theory of the universal animation of nature". Furthermore, Tylor reduced animism to an idea of simplistic concept and perspective on the world at large, that only "primitive" societies would believe in such an archaic and basic evaluation of nature.

This philosophical perspective provides the generalized belief that all animals possess an immaterial soul, hence placing humans and animals within a complex relation to one another. Although it can be assumed that humans have souls, and that humans are a distinct and sophisticated species of animal, we are inevitably just that; animals. Human beings, by nature, have a level of arrogance and a superiority complex that enables us to (primitively speaking) see all objects and subjects possessing human-like qualities and characteristics (i.e. souls, feelings, personalities, etc.). Similar to personification, man's perception of himself in nature can be seen from a child's imaginary friend to idol worship, the concept of "god making man in his image", to a "tribal-like" religion. This arrogance is what also stems the paradox of humans v.s. animals; the idea that somehow we are the superior, dominant species yet we long for the simplicity of existence that animals possess (after all what more could any being want more than to roll in mud and bake in the sun such as a pig? However we may front our disdain and faux supremacy, we still posses the envy and innate desire to be a contented animal).

Comprised of such ideals and philosophies as stated above, as well as each artists individual interpretation and conception; we have the exhibition Animism. The show consisted of installation works, photography, sculpture, performances, and video/film; every visual art form equally represented. Contemporary works meld with historical artworks to fully represent a century's worth of Animism in visual thought. The following images are stills and pieces from the exhibition:

Len Lye

Tusalava, 1929

16mm reduction from 35mm film, 10'

Daria Martin

Soft Materials, 2004

16mm film, 10'30"

Felix Regnault

Hommes negres - marche, c.a. 1870

Chronophotography

Etiennes-Jules Marey

Le vol du pelican, c.a. 1800

Chronophotography

Joachim Koester

Bialowieza Forest, 2001

Photography

Extra City

Agency

Assembly, 2010

Mixed Media/Installation

Other Artists from the show:

• ART & LANGUAGE
• Christian W. Braune & Otto Fischer
• Marcel Broodthaers
• Paul Chan
• Didier Demorcy
• Walt Disney
• Lili Dujourie
• Jimmie Durham
• Eric Duvivier
• Thomas A. Edision
• Harun Farocki
• Leon Ferrari
• Victor Grippo
• Brion Gysin
• Igloolik Isuma Productions
• Luis Jacobs
• Louise Lawler
• Angela Melitopoulos Maurizio Lazzarato
• Wesley Meuris
• Henri Michaux
• Santu Mofokeng
• Wincent Monnikendam
• Tom Nicholson
• Retro Pulfer
• Jozeph Robakowski
• Natascha Sadr Haghighian
• Paul Sharits
• Jan Svankmajer
• David G. Tretiakoff
• Rosemarie Trockel
• Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven
• Dziga Vertov
• Klaus Weber
• Apichatpong Weeraesethakul

Until Next Time,

-Laura

Amsterdam Part 3 - Alternative Spaces

Though the historical art of the Rijks and Van Gogh Museums house some of the most prolific works the Netherlands has to offer, what makes Amsterdam's art scene thrive is its new galleries and alternative spaces, housing works by international contemporary artists.

One of the most interesting places I visited was an "Alternative Space" called W139. Its a large warehouse-like room, with incredibly tall ceilings and plenty of bare walls; a space devoted to the production and presentation of Contemporary Art since 1979. On an annual basis, this alternative spaces hold 8-9 exhibitions each year, always opening on Friday nights at 9pm. or in truth, whatever the artists and directors will. The space is open for all forms of interpretation and all art forms to participate.

The in-process exhibition Doktor Faustus (February 1 - April 2 [opening night]) was large murals by various artists based on the novel of the same name, "Doktor Faustus" by Thomas Mann. This rather complex book, written in 1947, encapsulates the Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkühn as told from a friend. It is, in essence, a retelling of the classic German tale of Faust (Faustus), a man who makes a deal with the devil for his soul in exchange for knowledge.

"The hero of the novel, Leverkühn, is an usually prideful, distant and gifted individual, far too clever for the arts, but who nonetheless fulfills a creative urge and with this, requires unrestraint which, in the idealized framework of the book, can be delivered only by evil. From a more political perspective, his demise mirrors the intoxication of the people by Fascism"

- Thomas Mann (in a letter to Albert Oppenheimer)

In truth, one could call the entire gallery a singular work of art; a giant floor to ceiling collaboration of artists "who transcend the obligatory reference to a shared theme and the endeavor to vanquish the wondrous fear of illustration that has held the visual arts captive for over a century". Being an Illustrator, naturally I slightly scoffed at this final remark, by curator Gijs Frieling. However, the works were quite powerful, intriguing and the overall impression of these tall, imposing walls was such that I could think of nothing but to give my full admiration to the works.

(promotional poster for Alternative Space)

Contributing Artists:

• Axel Linderholm
• Charlotte Schleiffert
• Dick Tuinder
• Gijs Assmann
• Gijs Freiling
• Joris Lindhout
• Menso Groeneveld
• Natasja Kensmil
• Paul Klemann

The exhibition and works were so interesting, that I will be ordering an english translation of the book to read.

Until we meet again

-Laura