(© Benjamin Patterson)
Last year, Bozar presented a selection of works by the Fluxus standard-bearer George Maciunas. Now Brussels has a chance to see the work of another member of that international art movement, Benjamin Patterson. It was by chance that the now eighty-year-old African-American artist and musician came into contact with Fluxus folk such as John Cage, Nam June Paik, and La Monte Young in the 1960s: people who were out to shake up the establishment and wanted to bridge the gap between art and life. At the entrance to Harlan Levey Projects, by way of introduction, you can see old photographs of Patterson making music. Alongside classic works such as a 1962 photo collage with a wooden box (Puzzle Poem), the exhibition includes a considerable number of works from the 1990s and even more recently. Whereas we often associate Fluxus with yellowing – if not actually faded and mouldy – art, most of these works by Patterson are bright white and brand new.
Benjamin Patterson: Fluxus American-style
(Marble Hat © Benjamin Patterson)
As in the assemblage sculpture Swiss Symphony, for which he made his own version of Dalí’s painting William Tell. Dating from 2010, Sit Down, which consists of a designer chair in front of which a teddy bear is hung in such a way that someone sitting on the chair can engage in conversation with it, shows a cringeworthy lightness one wouldn’t expect from such a veteran. The more persuasive Marble Hat, made in Carrara marble, makes a knowing reference to a hat by Fluxus pioneer Robert Filliou. A map of the Rhineland shows where the artist went looking for gold, while in the corner stand two toilet plungers, attached to sticks with which he is reported to have climbed Mount Fuji at the age of seventy as a performance. We also liked the series in which the artist makes copies of weather maps, somewhat comparable to On Kawara’s Date Paintings.
As in the assemblage sculpture Swiss Symphony, for which he made his own version of Dalí’s painting William Tell. Dating from 2010, Sit Down, which consists of a designer chair in front of which a teddy bear is hung in such a way that someone sitting on the chair can engage in conversation with it, shows a cringeworthy lightness one wouldn’t expect from such a veteran. The more persuasive Marble Hat, made in Carrara marble, makes a knowing reference to a hat by Fluxus pioneer Robert Filliou. A map of the Rhineland shows where the artist went looking for gold, while in the corner stand two toilet plungers, attached to sticks with which he is reported to have climbed Mount Fuji at the age of seventy as a performance. We also liked the series in which the artist makes copies of weather maps, somewhat comparable to On Kawara’s Date Paintings.
(© Benjamin Patterson)
Although the more recent pieces don’t always convince, Patterson’s oeuvre interestingly complements the more widely recognised work of his colleagues. It is fresher, more Pop, but also lighter than that of the Europeans. Fluxus American-style, you could say. A revelation!
BENJAMIN PATTERSON: STOP SITTING ON THE FENCE - Curated by O. Rynell Cash > 12/10, do/je/Th > zo/di/Su 13 > 19.00, Harlan B. Levey Projects, rue Léon Lepagestraat 37, Brussel/Bruxelles, www.hl-projects.com
Although the more recent pieces don’t always convince, Patterson’s oeuvre interestingly complements the more widely recognised work of his colleagues. It is fresher, more Pop, but also lighter than that of the Europeans. Fluxus American-style, you could say. A revelation!
BENJAMIN PATTERSON: STOP SITTING ON THE FENCE - Curated by O. Rynell Cash > 12/10, do/je/Th > zo/di/Su 13 > 19.00, Harlan B. Levey Projects, rue Léon Lepagestraat 37, Brussel/Bruxelles, www.hl-projects.com
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