Irma Blank, Nadia Guerroui, Ann Veronica Janssens, LAb[au], Adrien Lucca, Dimitri Mallet, Luisa Mota, Morgane Tschiember, Pieter Vermeersch
Gregory Lang
Fondation CAB in Brussels presents an exhibition in which (curator) Grégory Lang considers the space of the foundation as a medium for new experiments by international and Brussels-based artists.
ON THE LOOKOUT explores how variations of colour can stimulate human behaviour. This exhibition highlights the immersive and immaterial qualities of each artwork : while we investigate the space, we deepen our relationship with each of them. The dialogues and tensions created between the colourful installations and the architecture intensify our attention. With each moment being favorable to observe fleeting occurrences, an expanded time devoted to these encounters enhances our experiences. Thus, by discerning several states of the same work, we also sharpen our perceptive adjustments.
The exhibition unfolds in different sequences. Along with its zones of experience, we discover the conceptual nuances between the artists.
From the first glance in the hall, Chromatic Fluctuations catch our eyes. The scientific virtuosity of Adrien Lucca‘s (b. 1983, lives and works in Brussels) installation lies in the transfiguration of pigments by light. After this space of controlled colorimetry, we immerse ourselves into the intuitive approach of Luisa Mota (b. 1984, lives and works in Porto). Her colourful and transparent in situ intervention resonates simultaneously with our bodies and the inner courtyard.
The traces of the handmade contrast with architectural installations taking over the adjacent large room. On one side, we walk along the wall painting of Pieter Vermeersch (b. 1973, lives and works in Turin), which extends a colour gradient over the length of the space. His pictorial gesture is concealed to create a metaphysical sense of time. On the other side, we pass through the monumental installation by Morgane Tschiember (b. 1976, lives and works in Paris) who sculpts colour in the height and depth of the space. Her inverted arches give a sensual dimension to the industrial material they are made of, by playing with its transparency.
Under the same glass roof, the everly changing daylight also interacts with the dichroic coloured-glass work by Ann Veronica Janssens (b. 1956, lives and works in Brussels), which reflects the environment. Between contemplation and immersion, our sensory experience is prolonged in the quest for the different states of a transformed light. Our perception of the work of Dimitri Mallet(b.1983, lives and works in Paris) also deepens after a significant period of attention. His suggestive colors refer us to our perception of light through our closed eyelids. The representation of this inner state, between sleep and wakefulness, conveys a romantic interpretation of colors.
A change in physicality occurs when we look towards the end of the perspective. A close relationship is induced with works which are deepening while we approach them. The spatially vibrant painting of Irma Blank (b. 1934, lives and works in Milan) captivates us, before revealing a linear gesture filled with serenity. Through the variations in colour intensity, the rhythmic duration of her breathing acquires materiality and legibility. By sliding into the secluded space reflecting zenithal light the most, this same meditative and haptic constancy manifests itself in the installation by Nadia Guerroui (b. 1988, lives and works in Brussels). Here we explore the elusive nature of her iridescently coloured wall surface, which also changes in time, depending on the position of the sun.
The closed adjacent room is bathed in artificial light – which creates an observation zone as constant as possible. The gradual appearance of colour in the work of LAb[au] (collective since 1997, lives and works in Brussels) renders visible a change of state. The juxtaposition of two different stages of the same material allows us to confront colours from several million years apart, opening up to a geological temporality.
