Again and again, Maison Particulière manages to arrange exhibitions of works belonging to major collectors. And they have done it again with their current show, which draws on the outstanding collections of, among others, Yannicke and Wilfried Cooreman and Chris and Lieven Declerck – often considered to be the most important in Belgium. This time, the central focus is on the Brussels artist Thomas Lerooy, known for drawings and sculptures that demonstrate traditional skills, considerable imagination, and a knowledge of art history. The theme of the current presentation is “States of Mind”, a wide-ranging theme that, furthermore, is pretty broadly interpreted here. But that takes nothing away from the fact that the Maison Particulière has once more managed to bring together a lot of really fine works, including a broken mirror with splendid light effects by Ann Veronica Janssens, an excellent portrait series by Jan Van Imschoot, and a photo-montage by John Baldessari. Alongside those, there remains plenty of scope for discoveries and surprises, as in a successful juxtaposition of two parts of a chair, assembled in such a way as to suggest a courting display (Moshekwa Langa), as well as a sexually explicit photograph by Nan Goldin. Our favourite room was the Salon Louise on the second floor. There, beside Adrian Ghenie’s portrait of a blue-glowing Stalin on his deathbed, you can see a painting, The Blind, by Helmut Stallaerts and a spooky work by Victor Man that seems to depict swimmers in a vacuum. Opposite, there hangs a touching photographic triptych by Nan Goldin of a (gay) couple, one of whom is dying, alongside a photograph taken at night by Alicia Framis in the house of the collectors (the Cooremans) and a photograph taken by Andres Serrano in a mortuary. Among the “ethnographic” objects, too, there are plenty of really interesting items, including a superb ceremonial robe with feathers in bright colours from Amazonia. Not to mention a frightening object made from dogs’ teeth. With a total of 90 works, this is, yet again, an ambitious exhibition – to be seen, moreover, in the pleasant surroundings of an Elsene/Ixelles town house.
STATES OF MIND > 30/3, di/ma/Tu > zo/di/Di 11 >18.00 (do/je/Th > 19.30), €10,
Maison Particulière, Kasteleinsstraat 49 rue du Châtelain, Elsene/Ixelles, 02-649.81.78,
www.maisonparticuliere.be
Fijn dat je wil reageren. Wie reageert, gaat akkoord met onze huisregels. Hoe reageren via Disqus? Een woordje uitleg.