Drawing
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10.10.2015 … 31.01.2016
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1 / Adel ABDESSEMED
2 / Tomma ABTS
1971, Constantine, Algeria
1967, Kiel, Germany
5 / Anna BARRIBALL
6 / Marc BAUER
1972, Plymouth, United Kingdom
1975, Geneva, Switzerland
Adel Abdessemed was born in Algeria but in 1994
Drawing is the backbone of Tomma Abts’ oeuvre.
moved to Paris because of the civil war in his coun-
The intimate scale of the abstract paintings for which
Anna Barriball’s delicate drawings capture the passing of time. The quite meditative, almost obsessive
Marc Bauer has done a new mural drawing specially
for S.M.A.K., based on A Viso Aperto, a series of works
try. This provided the basis for his fascination with
she is best known issues from her drawing practice.
repetition of detailed templates clearly arise out of
he did in 2005 that is based on old family photos and
violence, a phenomenon which is inseparably linked
Although Abts’ work looks planned and controlled,
labour-intensive processes and defy the limits of
tells the story of his grandfather, who emigrated from
with man and nature. The artist developed extre-
she says that it takes shape spontaneously. She sees
perfection and patience. In Soundproof II (2015),
Italy after WWI. Bauer revived this personal history and
me research situations concerning this bio-social
a drawing as a depiction of nothing more than itself,
a temporary, delicate mural drawing that the artist
linked it to the present crisis in and around Europe: the
dynamic. In the video Enter the Circle (2009) you see
a result of the creation process, a visible rendition
created especially for S.M.A.K., it is not only the
proliferating streams of migrants across the continent
him hanging upside down from a helicopter while
of improvisational thinking aloud. Abts occasionally
‘time’ dimension that plays an important part, but
and the destruction of cultural heritage such as the
trying to draw a large circle. The resulting works
does a series of smaller drawings in the course of
also ‘space’ and ‘sound’. The abstract pattern of
temple in the Syrian city of Palmyra, which is now no
demonstrate the absurd physical struggle the act
one single continuous session. The larger works
pencil dots is applied to the wall with the help of
more than a memory or an image. In Bauer’s drawings,
of drawing demanded. The artist prefers not to use
are also done at a single stroke, but in this case
the term ‘performance’, but rather ‘action’ because
spread over several weeks. Abts first marks out the
of its political connotations. Religious fundamen-
parameters: a limited number of forms, a selection of
panels. Their silvery reflection shifts according to the
sience’ and ‘the tragedy of culture’. Bauer combines
talism is one of the core themes in Abdessemed’s
colours, an idea. She then explores the possibilities
viewer’s position in the room.
the collective history with autobiographical anecdotes
oeuvre. In this instance the circle stands for unity and
within this well-defined set of elements. This reduc-
community.
tive method results in variations in which one image
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used acoustic panels. The dots refer to the sound
ruins refer not only to this recent destruction, but also
that is absorbed by the cavities and holes in the
to the ruin as a motif in art history that represents ‘tran-
to form fragmented storylines of real and imaginary memories. He employs drawing as a means of recording,
studying and creating atmosphere.
appears to pass over into another.
3 / Francis ALŸS
4 / William ANASTASI
7 / Thomas BOGAERT
1959, Antwerp, Belgium
1933, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
1967, Dendermonde, Belgium
In the mid-1980s, Francis Alÿs explored Mexico City
In every drawing he does, William Anastasi questions
In the animation film 64 Skiers, more than 3000 dra-
Monica Bonvicini questions the role of the artist from
in a series of intensive walks. He gradually started to
what he is doing and how he draws. He repeatedly
wings fly past to a soundtrack by the Japanese com-
a feminist perspective. She thematises the triangu-
interpret the city as a canvas and his walks as lines.
invents new drawing methods. He uses a variety of
poser Kawabata Makoto. Thomas Bogaert immerses
lar relationship between sex, power and control.
He also saw drawings and sculptures in the traces
materials and formats, experiments with two hands
you in a flood of images at an infectious tempo.
Ambiguity and a touch of humour put things into per-
of other people. He photographed and filmed them.
at the same time, works to music and ambient
Just as skiers leave temporary tracks in the snow,
In 1995 he went on a nocturnal walk in Ghent with
sounds and in different situations. This is how he
the drawn tracks whizz past you. The outlines of
a leaking tin of yellow paint. The course of his route
produced his Subway Drawings, Walking Drawings,
the mountains mingle with the traces of movement.
Sometimes for the purposes of making a sculpture,
emerged intuitively. In 2004 he carried out the same
Pocket Drawings, Theatre, Cinema and Taxi Dra-
Patches, rapid changes of colour, jolting transitions,
but often in its own right. For Bonvicini, drawing is
action: The Green Line follows exactly the demarca-
wings. The character of each drawing is determined
page numbers – imperfections in the process of ma-
a medium for philosophising, trying out ideas and
tion line between Jewish and Palestinian Jerusalem
by the physical movement combined with the situa-
king animation films – are not removed, but are left
recording momentary individual thoughts. The Smart
and refers to the green pencil with which Moshe
tion he draws in – while walking, in the underground
to lend character to the video. Music and image play
Quotations series was not done on normal drawing
Dayan, the Israeli commander-in-chief, drew this
or taxi, with his hand in his pocket or just stretching
equal roles. They both help determine the energy,
paper, but on British wrapping paper. This accen-
boundary on the map in 1948. Alÿs thus performed a
out his arm. Where possible, he draws with his eyes
rhythm, structure, form and colour of the film and
poetic action with a political connotation.
closed, with the aim of suppressing his intellectual
provide accents in the tension. Smooth movements
thought and activating the subconscious thinking of
and moments of chaos alternate.
his body. Ironically enough, this takes him closer to
8 / Monica BONVICINI
1965, Venice, Italy
spective. Drawing occupies an important place in her
oeuvre alongside sculpture, painting and installation.
tuates the temporary nature of what might be the
visual registration of extracts from diaries.
the essence or nature of drawing than when he tries
to imitate nature.
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9 / Michaël BORREMANS
10 / Andrea BOWERS
13 / Thierry DE CORDIER
14 / Edith DEKYNDT
1963, Geraardsbergen, Belgium
1965, Wilmington, Ohio, United States
1954, Oudenaarde, Belgium
1960, Ypres, Belgium
Michaël Borremans’ work balances between absurd
Andrea Bowers’ photorealistic drawings are inspired
Thierry De Cordier is presenting recent drawings
It is not only human activity that produces drawings.
realism and ominous mystery. In the series The
by images from the mass media. If photography is a
that have not previously been shown. Using ink, he
Edith Dekyndt lets the world draw. In her video Dead
House of Opportunity, he shows a house, usually
way our culture handles news, then to her drawing is
covered huge surfaces with sayings in which he
Sea Drawings (2010) we see drawings appear on
symbolic of familiar surroundings, as a strange,
a way of understanding this news. Activism is one of
consistently replaced the subject by the word ‘Dieu’
paper that the artist immerses in the Dead Sea. The
intriguing object. In one of the works in the series
the focal points of Bowers’ work. She isolates indivi-
(God). Religious elevation and everyday banality
extremely salty water makes its mark on the material.
you see a house as an artwork in a museum room
duals from crowds of demonstrators and draws them
inject one another with new meanings. The senten-
Dekyndt’s research concentrates on the physical
at S.M.A.K. It is out of proportion to the space it is
on a modest scale on large sheets of white paper.
ces are written in extraordinarily small handwriting. In
effect of materials and the consequences for their
standing in and assumes a changing scale in relation
As subtly as an old master, but with a contemporary
the beginning they are well ordered and controlled.
form. We can also see this clearly in Graphite 15
to the museum visitors. In the new series of sketches
critical sharpness. The grey values give the images
As the text progresses, they become increasingly
(2015). By long repetition of almost meditative
called Sculptural Installation for Abandoned Airport,
a timeless and documentary atmosphere. Drawings
hysterical and less legible. Writing as a meditative act
drawing movements using graphite on canvas, the
Borremans takes the peculiar relationship between
are an important core in Bowers’ oeuvre, which
degenerates into a possessed obsession. In these
material becomes saturated and wavy. The folds are
the human body and architecture even further. The
otherwise consists of installations on the history of
works, De Cordier probes the boundary between
reminiscent of light and shade effects. Dekyndt also
patina of recycled paper leads the viewer into the
the labour movement, books on feminism and talks
language and image. Writing becomes drawing and
experiments with clay on canvas, fresh cheese on
artist’s world, tinted by time, that comments on our
on her personal participation in acts of non-violent
vice versa.
jute and tempera on aluminium foil. She incorporates
control-based society where violence awaits around
civil disobedience.
every corner and our bodies are our final refuge.
into her visual vocabulary such elements as craquelure, material flaking off, spots, creases and folds that
form as chance marks of a physical process.
11 / Tacita DEAN
12 / Manon DE BOER
15 / Johan DE WILDE
16 / Trisha DONNELLY
1965, Canterbury, United Kingdom
1966, Kodaicanal, India
1964, Zele, Belgium
1974, San Francisco, California, United States
Tacita Dean’s Sixteen Blackboards (1992) consists of
Maud B. is an art collector. Among other things she
Johan De Wilde’s drawings are composed like pain-
Trisha Donnelly’s work unfolds in a vague zone
16 photos of chalk drawings on a board. Snapshots
owns two abstract silkscreen prints by Agnes Martin,
tings. Horizontal and vertical lines are meticulously
where time, space, image and sound relate to each
of a drawing undergoing constant change. The
one of Manon de Boer’s favourite artists. The works
applied layer upon layer. It seems almost mechanical,
other in an alternative way. Using drawings, photos,
board acted as a projection screen for the artist’s
are behind glass and hang near a window in her flat.
as if produced by a printer. But the rigidly minimalist
sculptures, films and sound works, she activates the
thoughts and became the support for direct sket-
De Boer set up a 16 mm camera in front of one of
words and images are enveloped in a delicate mist.
spaces between the visual disciplines and seeks out
ches and notes that were also soon erased. The
the drawings, with the diaphragm set to the average
De Wilde’s work is sometimes described as origi-
their limits. One of the main motifs is waves, both
evidence is to be seen in the hazy traces of erased
light value. She asked Maud B. to start the camera
nating from a ‘human printer’, because it combines
electromagnetic waves (e.g. sound waves) and the
and reworked passages, which make the creation
whenever she took the time to look at how the light
complexity with sensitivity. De Wilde engages with
waves of the sea. They represent Donnelly’s fascina-
period and the layers of the creative process openly
played on the print. The differences in colour and
a wide range of themes including symbols, langua-
tion with frequencies, vibrations and the transfer of
visible. The way Tacita Dean draws is related to the
light in the film are the consequences of the unchan-
ge, time, art history and memory. He gives all his
information. She makes these immaterial phenomena
time-based arts of ‘performance’ and ‘film’. She
ged setting of the camera and the passing of time.
drawings the title of History, followed by a number,
visible, audible and tangible in her work. Donnelly’s
herself calls them ‘dysfunctional storyboards’, an
De Boer uses Martin’s work of art as a projection
which he explains as follows: “I draw time, on a
drawings alternate between the figurative and the
unusable collection of drawings of shots to be used
plane in which the real space in front of the work is
scale of one to one. Each line is one second.”
abstract. It often seems that the information that is
for scenes in a possible film script. The static images
reflected. This, on top of Martin’s rational, minimalist
of 16 stages on a single board suggest a storyline
drawing, gives rise to a new, moving drawing that
that reaches completion in the viewer’s imagination.
sketches a personal story.
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17 / Ellen GALLAGHER
18 / Andrea GALIAZZO
1965, Providence, Rhode Island, United States
1983, Camposampiero, Italy
Ellen Gallagher takes you along in a refined undersea
In a small, separate room you are received by Andrea
world where both horrid and attractive creatures
Galiazzo. He doodles a pattern of dots and lines on
swim around: brain-shaped jellyfish, sea monsters,
your hand. Galiazzo sees this performance, called
individual mouths, eyes and ears, and skulls covered
Inky Way (2014-15), as an initiation ritual. In the most
in seaweed and pockmarks. She also takes inspirati-
direct way, the artist introduces you to his work in
on from facts, fables and fantasies from realms abo-
the conviction that any concept requires a starting
ve sea level, including Africa, America, feminism and
point, a rite of passage that opens up a new way
psychoanalysis. These mysterious unknown regions
of looking. Taking part signifies membership of a
stimulate your imagination and subconscious. Fusion
subgroup distinguished by a ‘ritual mark’. In addition,
and transformation are key concepts in Gallagher’s
the artist hereby refers to young artists’ implicit,
work. They also manifest themselves in her drawing
intensive task of promoting themselves. This drawing
materials: watercolour and ink on transparent and
performance requires Galiazzo’s presence for the
perforated layers of paper. On both sides, drawings
entire duration of the exhibition. In contrast, he lets
that cover and/or reveal each other’s counter-forms
the life-span of his drawings depend on what their
develop out of evocative, messy patches of colour
receiver does with them.
and meticulous pen strokes.
Andrea Galliazzo will give the performance from 11 am
to 5 pm every Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the
exhibition.
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21 / Roni HORN
22 / Henri JACOBS
1955, New York, United States
1957, Zandoerle, the Netherlands
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But 2 (2013) consists of a concentration of lines, co-
In his Journal Drawings, a series of drawings that
lour, signs and words. Emptiness surrounds the pat-
Henri Jacobs continues to develop almost every day,
tern. In essence, Horn wants to make us experience
he converts visual language, mainly from modernist
intensely ‘the place of her drawing’ or ‘her drawing
art and the formal vocabulary on its margins, into
as a place’. One of the core themes of her oeuvre
a personal world. The artist arranges his drawings
is fragmented identity. But 2 arose out of forms in
chronologically, numbers them systematically and
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pure pigment, charcoal and varnish on cardboard
also builds up Depots for each year, containing
that was cut up and then reassembled in a different
visual material that inspires him. This highly metho-
way. The fragments link up within an overall image
dical approach is reflected in a visual idiom that
of meanders and lines. It looks as if, to perform this
sometimes leans towards esotericism: the endless
reconstruction, the artist let herself be led by marks
re-use of highly-detailed repetitive patterns and their
and words. They suggest connections that keep
construction lines. Some of the drawings are reminis-
your eyes in constant motion. Horn’s exceptional
cent of Indian mandalas or kaleidoscopic distortions.
sensitivity to material tactility adds to the sensuality
The creation of this oeuvre requires an almost stoical
of her visual textures. Looking at them is like reading
discipline. Rationality and obsession meet here.
a landscape. Hesitations, fingerprints, cut edges and
spots create a fascinating relief.
19 / Nikolaus GANSTERER
20 / Julian GÖTHE
23 / Mark LOMBARDI
24 / Mark MANDERS
1974, Klosterneuburg, Austria
1966, Berlin, Germany
1951-2000, New York, United States
1968, Volkel, the Netherlands
Just as thinking precedes an idea, the act of drawing
Julian Göthe trained as a designer of sets for anima-
Mark Lombardi’s painstakingly drawn structures
Mark Manders’ oeuvre started in 1986 with a plan,
comes before the drawing itself, the process before
ted films. His sculptures, drawings and installations
chart political, economic and social connections. The
consisting of writing material laid out on the floor,
the result. Nikolaus Gansterer analyses the identity of
curb the glamour and clichés of the theatre and film
artist constructs conspiracy theories with apparent
that would provide the basis for a written self-por-
thought and drawing as processes and thematises
world by means of a strict geometry that imprisons
objectivity. For example, UPI Saga attempts to unra-
trait. The artist became fascinated by the way these
their mutual relationship. What crystallizes in his work
drama and expression inside a rigid structure.
vel the links between the UPI news agency and the
objects belonged together, which they, and their
are the traces left by a complex choreography between
Several motifs come together in Göthe’s drawings:
right-wing American fundamentalist Pat Robertson.
colour, language and form, dictated, and which can-
thought and matter. Here drawings are both present
his robot-like sculptures appear on the stage as the
All the elements in Lombardi’s diagrams are linked to
not be captured in language. He decided to draw his
and absent. During a performance, Gansterer will
leading players, human actors give structure to the
each other. They form a microcosm that appears to
self-portrait with objects as an imaginary ‘house’ in
actualize his installation of signs and objects, turning
stage set and geometrical ornamentation enlivens
make complex systems comprehensible. Lombardi
which he would accommodate his thoughts. He sees
it into a ‘multi-dimensional diagram’ that embodies the
the stage. Göthe’s mural drawing isolates the latter
started developing his ‘clouds of facts’ during the
each of his works as a new facet of this Self-por-
complex creative process. The form and function of the
motif and unfolds its lines in space. Cords fixed in a
early days of the Internet, which set in motion mass
trait as a building. The Silent Studio installation
components will become unstable and their meaning
geometric pattern balance between the second and
movements of information, virtual money and people.
(1989-2015) can be interpreted as a three-dimensi-
will swing between definition and deviation. The instal-
third dimensions. The work is reminiscent of con-
To acquire an insight into this dynamic, Lombardi
onal snapshot of an artist’s studio, a place where
lation, half-written, half-named, will remain ambiguous
structions in geometry and architecture, where real
developed his sociograms, which are seen as an ex-
thoughts are frozen. Among other things, you see
without ever settling down as a finalized drawing. Be-
and illusory perspective spaces cannot be distinguis-
ceptionally significant contribution to conceptual art.
drawings on plaster and a plaster sculpture with
cause drawing means extending, hesitating, changing,
hed from one another.
abandoning, transforming and drawing on.
Gansterer will activate his installation at S.M.A.K. on Saturday 24 October 2015 (t.b.c.). For up-to-date information on
this performance: www.smak.be
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draft drawings. Manders sees drawing “rather as
a study of thinking than of observation. It is about
thoughts that are reproduced”.
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25 / Nick MAUSS
26 / Paul MCCARTHY
29 / Matt MULLICAN
1980, New York, United States
1945, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
1951, Santa Monica, California, United States
30 / Marc NAGTZAAM
Drawing is one of the foundations of Nick Mauss’
Paul McCarthy, who mounted an exceptionally
Matt Mullican’s work reflects on knowledge, language
Marc Nagtzaam’s work arises between opposing for-
oeuvre. It opens up the possibility of sounding out
controversial solo exhibition at S.M.A.K. in 2007-‘08,
and the perception and representation of the world.
ces: arbitrariness v. order, regularity v. intuitive chaos,
various stages of completion and developing forms
uses drawing as an outlet for both his conscious
In the 1970s, his research into behaviour and the
in between disciplines. Mauss works in ink, waterco-
thoughts and unconscious urges. For him it is an
elements that make up a personality led to drawing
lour, pastel, coloured pencil, gouache and charcoal
important means of making notes in the research
performances under hypnosis. In this way he sought
on paper, and sometimes also with mirrors and
that leads to his performances. This also applies
contact with a subconscious part of himself which he
rules, in this failure it constantly seeks to improve. The
ceramics. Through these materials, the movement
to his Bunker Basement Drawings (2003). McCart-
calls ‘that person’ and defines as a medium without
vibration and unpredictability of the drawing hand and
of the line makes things visible, dormant or hidden.
hy’s drawings include sketches, models, diagrams,
age or gender. The trance sometimes lasts for hours
Among other things, Mauss reproduces traces of
character studies, floor-plans for sets, stage directi-
and it enables Mullican to break away from limitati-
cultural and art history. His drawings are sometimes
ons, analyses of scenery items and structures, and
ons. During these performances he employs drawing
ometric abstract, minimalist and post-minimalist artists,
compared with “forgotten words that are on the tip
also texts in the form of lists, notes, wordplay, word
techniques taken from Surrealism such as ‘écriture
Nagtzaam, using primary geometric forms, creates a
of the tongue”. What they suggest cannot be and is
associations and excerpts from scripts. They are the
automatique’, automatic writing, or drawing with no
not quite spoken. The fragile, closed images waver
result of stages in the process of creating scenarios
predetermined idea, and ‘frottage’, laying a support
between apparent introversion and calculated va-
and form crucial steps between the artist’s ideas and
over a texture and rubbing the drawing material over it
forms. When Nagtzaam presents drawings on paper
gueness. Mauss is best known for his drawings, but
his provocative, socially critical live performances.
until an image appears. In Mullican’s oeuvre, hypnosis
as components of a mural drawing, they seem – like
also does paintings and sculptures and in 2014 sur-
is the chaotic opposite of the artist’s highly ordered,
windows – to offer you a view of a new space outside
prised the Frieze Art fair in London with a large-scale
almost encyclopaedic attempts to chart the world in
performance with ballet.
its entirety.
1968, Helmond, The Netherlands
established rules v. purposeful improvisation. It is born
in the space between thought and emotion, between
control and losing hold. Failing to adhere to its basic
the imprecise variation in the traces of the pencil point
mitigate the rigid logic of an underlying system. Like ge-
universal language with no references to content. Even
the characters are not to be read, but to be viewed as
the actual exhibition room.
27 / Lucy MCKENZIE
28 / Julie MEHRETU
31 / Jockum NORDSTRÖM
32 / Henrik OLESEN
1977, Glasgow, United Kingdom
1970, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
1963, Stockholm, Sweden
1967, Esbjerg, Denmark
Lucy McKenzie’s models, on which she had drawn,
Julie Mehretu is best known for her often monumen-
Jockum Nordström is known for his collages,
Henrik Olesen has since the mid-1990s been carrying
were originally exhibited in relation to room-filling
tal, dynamic paintings from around the year 2000.
paintings, drawings and sculptures, which refer
out research into homophobia and racism in the
environments on the theme of the Alhambra and
These works were based on an in-depth exploration
among other things to folk art, art brut and jazz. He
patriarchal logic of European democracy. The series
Adolf Loos’ Villa Müller. The artist contrasts depicti-
of drawing as a process and can best be called ‘dra-
has also written and illustrated children’s books and
of drawings entitled A.T. examines the forgotten life of
ons of ordinary interiors with this architecture, which
wn paintings’, or even: ‘painted drawings’. The more
designed record sleeves and CD covers. His works
the British mathematician Alan Turing (1912-54), who
verges on ‘perfection’. One of the core themes in
abstract DNA of these works developed layer by
appear highly associative. The casual way the figures
developed the Turing machine, an instrument for cal-
McKenzie’s oeuvre is the way design colours and
layer out of figurative visual sources. Drawing gives
are distributed over the pages leaves room for free
culation that laid the foundations for computer logic.
gives shape to your everyday life. Bedsit Glasgow is
Mehretu an intimacy that allows her greater freedom
interpretation. The folky, intuitive, almost childish cut
Because of his homosexuality, he became the subject
a copy of a former flatmate’s apartment. Being extre-
than painting. Drawing makes her paintings more
and paste style makes the works look naïve. But the
of scandal and was prosecuted. This may have been
mely sensitive to sound, he made changes to sound-
spontaneous. Her recent visual vocabulary consists
clumsy execution is a sham. The images are refined
the cause of his suspected suicide. The pattern of
proof his flat. Apartment Gallery is based on Cabinet
of gestural graphic structures, restless clusters of
in the way that chance is permitted to play a part.
Turing’s life appears to link his personal story excep-
Gallery, an art gallery/studio in a private London flat
marks. She herself calls them ‘characters’. They bear
Nordström has an eye that is sensitive to ‘accidents’
tionally closely to the course of 20th-century history.
in the 1990s. Both models are a response to Loos’
the history of drawing within them, from the age-old
and material disturbance in the form of spots, ero-
Olesen made ‘corrections’ to original documents by
villa, which was designed deliberately as a stage
mystical Chinese calligraphy to the informal painting
ded areas, tears and creases in the weathered paper.
hand. These are authentic traces of the artist’s direct
that would heavily influence the daily lives of its
of the 1950s, by such artists as Michaux, Hartung,
interaction with the research material. But he does not
occupants. In Origami Studio, McKenzie makes the
Soulages and Mathieu.
show the originals with his additions, only scans of
o
link between the geometry of the art of paper-folding
them, new images in which he attributes equal histori-
and the decorative Arabic patterns in the Alhambra.
cal value to the documents and his corrections.
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33 / Gabriel OROZCO
34 / Raymond PETTIBON
37 / Robin RHODE
38 / Salam Atta SABRI
1962, Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
1957, Tucson, Arizona, United States
1976, Cape Town, South Africa
1953, Baghdad, Iraq
Gabriel Orozco is a precise, poetic reporter on fleet-
The combination of words and images is fundamental
Robin Rhode’s work excels in its directness. This artist
Until 2005, Salam Atta Sabri was a ceramist. When
ing everyday things. His drawings are separate from
to Raymond Pettibon’s work. The drawings he did
grew up in post-apartheid South Africa. The increasing
he returned to his native city of Baghdad in that year,
his much better-known installations and objects and
in the 1970s are closely related to strip cartoons.
influence of hip hop, breakdance, graffiti, skateboar-
the situation was extremely fraught: fighting militias,
are more intimate. The link between them could be a
He soon broke away from this by doing stand-alone
ding and so on, plus the tradition of telling stories in
extreme violence, political instability, corruption and
matter of ‘chance’, in the sense that Orozco’s sculp-
drawings with closer ties between words and image.
wall drawings, stimulated the development of Rhodes’
chaos. Lacking the raw materials for ceramics, Atta
tural work arises out of chance discoveries made
Pettibon appropriates images and combines them
street aesthetics. His interventions enliven the ordinary.
Sabri started drawing. Letters from Baghdad is a
during city walks and that his drawings develop
with quotations from world literature and popular and
They turn urban places into imaginary worlds where
series of drawings in the form of a diary that tells
out of mishaps and chance occurrences. In recent
underground culture. His core theme is the dark side
space and time feel different and where a performer
the tragedy of the artist’s return to Baghdad. Their
drawings he has incorporated leaves from trees
of the American Dream: drugs, sex, religion, violence,
– Rhode himself or an actor – activates wall drawings.
visual idiom incorporates both modernist elements
combined with patches and handprints in pastel. The
and present-day myths from Woodstock through
For Rhode, drawing is a distinctly physical experience
and motifs from the ancient civilisations between the
resulting images are evocative, and rich in material
Manson to the fight against terrorism. He has two
and the driving force behind his oeuvre. This medium
Tigris and the Euphrates. The series consists of two
characters as his alter egos: Gumby, who fits himself
provides the basis for his photos, stop-motion videos,
types of drawing. In the first, the sheet is structured
into every possible situation, and Vavoom, who can
murals and performances, which fuse personal stories
by a grid filled to the extreme with forms and signs.
only produce one sound but uses it to give everything
with broader socio-economic themes. His recent work
The second appears to evoke the swirling of a
meaning. Pettibon was unknown before he took part
also contains references to art history and in this way it
tornado. Relative order and apocalyptic chaos feed
in the exhibition Helter Skelter: L.A. Art in the 1990s
bridges the gap between the street and the museum.
each other.
and movement. In this instance, drawing has less to
do with lines than with spontaneous marks. The hand
creates the drawing or, more to the point: the hand
‘is’ the drawing. Orozco’s drawing starts out from
things and the body itself. The presence of the artist
during the drawing process is undeniably crucial.
35 / Chloe PIENE
1972, Stamford, Connecticut, United States
Chloe Piene’s drawings and sculptures refer to
eroticism and death. Hands, feet, arms, legs and
whole bodies appear out of the delicate lines she
sketches. Piene’s sensual figures dwell between life,
lust and mortality. They relax, envelop themselves in
well-being, go into a high and out of their body. La
Petite Mort. The atmosphere is dark, rebellious and
existential. Piene’s female nudes are reminiscent of
the skeletons in Albrecht Dürer’s march of the dead
and the starved models in Egon Schiele’s work, but
now with a tinge of gothic.
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p
r
(1992) and made his name on the punk rock scene
with fanzines and record sleeves.
Robin Rhode is planning to give a performance in the
course of this exhibition. For up-to-date information visit
www.smak.be
36 / Carol RAMA
39 / Thomas SCHÜTTE
40 / Mithu SEN
1918, Turin, Italy
1954, Oldenburg, Germany
1971, Burdwan, West Bengal, India
Carol Rama’s first exhibition, in Turin in 1945, caused
Thomas Schütte studied painting, but this medium
Mithu Sen does delicate, provocative drawings
a scandal. Even before it opened the police had all
soon lost its ability to excite him. In his quest for a
that appear to tell stories. The characters – people,
the works removed. Rama’s unvarnished rendering of
more direct relationship between art and reality, in
animals and fabulous in-between creatures – inhabit
obsessions, dreams, sexual fantasies, fetishes, vio-
addition to paintings he has also produced sculp-
a dream-world between the unconscious part of
lence and aggression shocked people. Her obscene
tures, installations, watercolours, photos, theatre
the psyche and the conscious body. Sen introduces
and radical work is autobiographical. Their sources
sets and drawings. He occasionally makes ceramic
words into some of the images as a graphic signal
lie in personal traumas. The fact that this artist is an
versions of his works on paper. Relief 19.02.2015
with no narrative significance. Through this abstract
autodidact accentuates the rawness, authentic natu-
is a loose outline made with the finger straight
use of language she increases the impenetrability of
ralness and naïve sensuality of her images, which are
onto the ceramic with no prior existence on paper.
her images while at the same time creating possibi-
related to animism and art brut. Rama’s subtle, often
Schütte thinks in terms of images. When drawing, he
lities. Sen’s drawings range from fairytale fantasies
ironic drawings are offensively elegant and dreamily
follows the direction of the line and looks for chance
through semi-anatomical studies to explicit erotic
rebellious.
occurrences. His lines are never reasoned-out. In his
scenes. They are done in pencil and watercolour
view, drawing is looking, discovering what he does
on paper. The accents of transparent paint and the
not know, then continuing to look and continuing to
Perspex in which they are framed activate light and
draw. Trying again and again to capture what is near
shade as impalpable drawing materials that generate
and familiar, and finding that it is after all distant and
a momentary additional meaning.
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41 / Jim SHAW
42 / Paul SIETSEMA
45 / Elly STRIK
46 / Ante TIMMERMANS
1952, Midland, Michigan, United States
1968, Los Angeles, California, United States
1961, The Hague, The Netherlands
1976, Ninove, Belgium
Jim Shaw’s Dream Drawings offer an unusually
For Paul Sietsema, drawing is a means of forming ide-
Elly Strik has built an intimate room around her
Ante Timmermans makes sculptures, performances,
thorough and consistent insight into the visual
as for his work in other media. In his films, paintings
work Freud’s Sofa, containing drawings inspired
installations and other works, but is above all a dra-
mechanisms of dreams. The artist has since 1992
and drawings, he thematises the status and layered
by Darwin’s ideas on evolution and Freud’s on the
wer. He sees his installations as spatial drawings. They
been ‘catching’ his dreams by retelling and recording
history of images. He investigates the relationship
unconscious. The sofa thus does not refer to the
take shape directly, spontaneously and associatively
them in the morning. On the basis of these sound
between form, material and the formation of an image
setting of a psychoanalysis session, but links the
out of questions, doubts and ideas on personal and
recordings he tries to develop concrete images
that has a major influence on our view of the world.
imagination to dreams and desires. Strik’s drawings
existential issues. Timmermans analyses the everyday
out of the rambling dreams. This often results in a
On the basis of images and objects that Sietsema has
remind us of the origins of life, are intended to touch
absurdity of routine, control and boredom and links
succession of bizarre contradictory associations
collected or made himself, he questions his double
on the essence of humanness, and allude to the ar-
this to the essential question of the meaning of life.
that look like a strip cartoon. Shaw writes down the
role as a consumer and maker of images. In so doing
tist’s image of the ideal future-oriented society. Being
The basis for Der Souffleur des Ichts is a stage, the
storyline on the back of the drawings. He is aware
he reactivates reproduction methods from before the
strong is not the only survival mechanism. Coopera-
setting for Timmermans’ artistic world. The artist has
that it is impossible to capture the schizophrenia of
digital age. For example, in ink on paper he simulates
tion is crucial. In this regard, creativity is a principle
for many years been accompanied by a donkey, the
dreams fully and clearly in drawings and words, but
with extreme precision the grid-based printing typical
of survival that is capable of fusing the most diverse
beast of burden that represents the human caught in
he continues working steadily on his dream diary. In
of newspapers. Sietsema’s drawing style is photo-re-
individual beings and stories into new life-forms:
Kafka’s web and in the everyday routine that is impos-
the meantime, more and more images arise out of
alistic. For him, the hours he spends building up his
plants combine with animals, machines with worms,
sible to escape completely. The souffleur (prompter)
the drawing process itself.
drawings bit by bit reflect the layering of history.
and cells look like human eyes.
is the artist himself. Hidden in the prompt-box, he
t
enters into dialogue with the donkey, with you and
with himself in search of the ‘Ichts’, a fusion of ‘ich’ (I),
u
‘Ichts’ (something) and ‘Nichts’ (nothing).
43 / Alexandre SINGH
44 / Bart STOLLE
47 / Rosemarie TROCKEL
48 / Ignacio URIARTE
1980, Bordeaux, France
1974, Eeklo, Belgium
1952, Schwerte, Germany
1972, Krefeld, Germany
Whether he is making theatre, collages or sculptures,
Although Bart Stolle draws every day, he has only
Rosemarie Trockel preserves observations and expe-
Inspired by his previous career as a business admi-
drawing, writing or performing, Alexandre Singh is
recently started showing his sketches. He is better
riences, thoughts and feelings in sketches and notes.
nistrator, Ignacio Uriarte does drawings that reflect
essentially a storyteller. He examines how our minds
known for animated films in which geometric figures
Her ‘sculptor’s drawings’ document her visual way
the contemporary aesthetics of offices. He converts
compose a coherent vision of the world out of bits of
form objects and characters, but he also does
of thinking and do not necessarily lead to completed
information, actions, skills and materials into a pure
our sensory perceptions, memories, stories, dreams,
complex paintings that summon up associations with
works of art. Although they are part of the develop-
abstract style. He uses typical office materials such
and personal and historical facts. His Assembly Instruc-
technical, social and urban situations. Being extreme-
mental process of objects, sculptures and installati-
as coloured ballpoint pens. His improvisational
tions series consists of collages of scans and copies
ly aware of the profound influence of digitisation on
ons, they differ from traditional sculptor’s drawings
approach to drawing has a lot in common with
made from books, magazines and the internet. Singh
the way we perceive things, Stolle reacts to the ever
in their unfinished aesthetic, which makes them open
doodling – drawing while your mind is somewhere
has added notes and arranged them in incohesive
faster production and distribution of images with his
and free like ideas. For this exhibition, Trockel has
else, such as during a telephone conversation. These
diagrams. These assemblages are linked together by
slow, pared-down formal vocabulary. Among other
created assemblages of these sketches and notes.
scribbles born out of the subconscious sometimes
dotted lines that do not indicate any connections. The
things, he analyses how computers ‘draw’: by means
The combinations seem to generate content-based
lead to simple drawings, sometimes to extended
Pledge: Danny Rubin is part of this series and is based
of chance distribution, plotting and repeating forms,
connections, but that is not what the artist is concer-
patterns. Variations in the pressure put on the pen,
on Singh’s interview with Rubin, the scenarist of the
and producing rhythmic series using the binary figu-
ned with. She sees her assemblages as “reservoirs
extremely meticulously interwoven clusters of lines
film Groundhog Day (1993). Singh plays with ideas
res 0 and 1. Many of Stolle’s drawings are variations
of sculptural ideas” that offer an insight into her rich
crossing each other, and delicately gradual colour
from that film: a circular storyline, the transformation
of points, lines and dashes. Sometimes these visual
associative powers.
transitions make Uriarte’s doodling much more re-
of a character, writing as an act, real and metaphysical
elements stick together, and in other places they
fined. His biomorphic shapes and organic networks
boundaries in the story, Janus looking at the past and
break apart. “Infinite separation and infinite connec-
of lines are reminiscent of micro-organisms, fossils,
the future, the groundhog and the viewer’s imagination.
tion” is how Stolle summarises this dynamic.
animal tissues and nerve bundles.
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49 / Anne-Mie VAN KERCKHOVEN (AMVK)
50 / Erik VAN LIESHOUT
53 / Kemang WA LEHULERE
1951, Antwerp, Belgium
1968, Deurne, The Netherlands
1984, Cape Town, South Africa
In picture books of religious old masterpieces held by
In the 1990s, Erik van Lieshout became known for
Kemang Wa Lehulere converts his interest in local
the Louvre, it was particularly the portrayal of hands
expressive paintings and rough drawings showing a
and personal stories and the collective political
that inspired AMVK to do these drawings. She was also
mix of sex, drugs, street culture and media figures.
history and current affairs into mural drawings. He
once struck by an article about how important hands
In the meantime he has been making multimedia
is fascinated above all by lost and unwritten stories
are in contacts with the demented. Hands can connect,
installations with crudely assembled sculptures,
and the way they are subject to memory loss and be-
help, order, offer calm and give warmth. But they can
videos and drawings. They expose the effects of
coming coloured. Using erasable chalk, Wa Lehulere
also destroy. Images of the present crisis in and around
current political problems and social conflicts in a
draws out the fleeting, unspoken or invisible stories
Europe are shocking. Her outrage and desire for posi-
uniquely committed and confrontational manner.
he tracks down. His associative manner of drawing
tive counter-images prompted AMVK to put down on
Van Lieshout’s drawings in the series After the Riot
has the improvisational energy of a performance. Wa
paper the results of her personal reflections. They are
II show the moment after riots caused by religious
Lehulere makes his drawings public like graffiti and
coloured by mysterious codes from her unconscious,
radicalism, xenophobia and intolerance. The artist’s
leaves room to add to, adapt or erase them. The ar-
by theoretical quotes, and by images from art history
visual language is sharp, critical and restless. When
tist makes no judgement, but shows potential scena-
that are rooted in the collective memory, though the
drawing, which he considers the most honest and
rios in which planned benchmarks and instant ideas,
keys to the comprehension of their message have been
direct medium, he values efficiency higher than
erased or otherwise, exist alongside one another.
lost. This is a reaction to Islam, which considers any
technical perfection.
depiction of Allah as blasphemy and in its recent excesses has taken up an extremely hostile position towards
the Christian tradition and our Western culture.
51 / Sandra VÁSQUEZ DE LA HORRA
52 / Jorinde VOIGT
1967, Viña del Mar, Chile
1977, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
In Sandra Vásquez de la Horra’s images, characters
In her debut period, Jorinde Voigt tried to fathom
borrowed from various periods and contexts play
the invisible phenomena of everyday life, culture and
parts in new myths of time, birth, life and death. The
science by means of coded writing and drawing.
artist quotes from classical myths and in her dark
To give an example, the horizon, that imaginary line
fantasy world presents figures from nature stories,
between heaven and earth. She fanned out her
urban settings and politics. One key figure is La
analyses visually on paper. In recent work Voigt has
Santa Muerte, a cross between the Chilean figure of
focused more on the inner world of ideas. She finds
‘Death’ and one of the riders of the Apocalypse. He
inspiration in literature, theoretical and philosophical
links the indigenous cult of the dead to the Catholic
writings by Schopenhauer, Epicurus, Celan, Jung
colonisation of Chile. Sometimes Vásquez de la
and others. Often she first makes notes of passages
Horra adds words to her drawings: popular sayings
that summoned up specific ideas while reading.
that let us hear the collective voice in a poetic, often
From these she generates forms, then cuts them
ironic way. The artist draws in pencil on recycled
out, works on them, and puts them back in their
paper, which she immerses in wax after she has dra-
original place before continuing to draw. This leads
wn on it. This gives the already layered drawings an
to structures of pulsing forms that attract, repel and
additional, material layer, and also makes them look
cautiously encircle each other.
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vulnerable like skin. Sometimes drawings are folded
into three-dimensional objects.
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MUSEUMCULTUUR STROMBEEK/GHENT
A LINE IS A LINE IS A LINE
MER. Station 17: A NEW SPIRIT IN BOOKING
02.10… 13.12.2015
02.10… 13.12.2015
MER. Station 17: A New Spirit in Booking is an exhibition by MER. Paper Kunsthalle, an
independent publisher that sees the book as an art medium or as a place to exhibit art.
MER. was set up by Studio Luc Derycke.
Cultuurcentrum Strombeek
Gemeenteplein
1853 Strombeek-Bever
www.ccstrombeek.be
Open 7/7
Mon-Sat 10 am-10 pm, Sun 10 am-6 pm
admission free
Public transport from Brussels to Strombeek
tram 3 (Esplanade)
buses 230, 231, 232
© Bart Lodewijks
In parallel with the exhibition Drawing | The Bottom Line, the exhibition A line is a line is a
line holds contemporary forms of drawing up to the light.
With works by Mario Airo, Francis Alÿs, Joseph Beuys, Marinus Boezem, Kasper Bosmans, Marcel
Broodthaers, James Lee Byars, Jacques Charlier, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Peter Downsbrough,
Humane Groene Boontjes, Bart Lodewijks, Gwendolyn Lootens, Yola Minatchy, Meret Oppenheim,
Blinky Palermo, Royden Rabinowitch, Gerhard Richter, Salam Atta Sabri, Thomas Schütte, Walter Swennen, Jan Van Imschoot, Philippe Van Snick, Lore Vanelslande, Georges Vantongerloo, Hans Verhaegen
and Andy Warhol.
18
19
S.M.A.K. PROGRAM 2016
WWW.SMAK.BE
(subject to changes)
FROM THE COLLECTION | SOL LEWITT
Would you like to receive first-hand information about S.M.A.K.? If so, subscribe to our
newsletter at www.smak.be/en/newsletter-subscribe
11.04.2015... 14.02.2016
DRAWING | THE BOTTOM LINE
10.10.2015… 31.01.2016
AYSE ERKMEN & ANN VERONICA JANSSENS
A
31.10.2015… 14.02.2016
KORAKRIT ARUNANONDCHAI GIFT
MSK GENT
TANGENTS
10.10.2015… 05.03.2016
LETTERS TO CHANTRI #1
The lady at the door/The gift that keeps on giving (feat. boychild)
23.02… 08.05.2016
FROM THE COLLECTION | NEW!
23.02… 08.05.2016
MICHAEL BUTHE | RETROSPECTIVE
05.03… 05.06.2016
RINUS VAN DE VELDE
05.03… 05.06.2016
INVISIBLE BEAUTY
28.05… 04.09.2016
LEE KIT
28.05… 04.09.2016
ZVI GOLDSTEIN
25.06… 30.10.2016
COMING PEOPLE 2016
25.06… 30.10.2016
CHRISTOPH BÜCHEL
24.09.2016… 08.01.2017
NAIRY BAGHRAMIAN
19.11.2016… 26.02.2017
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© Maria Laet, Milk on pavement, 2008 (detail)
Where do the tangents between past and present, or between ‘I’ and our fellow man, lie?
The MSK invites contemporary artists to work around this grey zone. Using a variety of media, they sketch an animated world in which (human) relationships are once again central. In
so doing, the artists question our world view in a globalized, seemingly limitless society.
With Edith Dekyndt, Aslan Gaisumov, Monika Grzymala, Tim Knowles, Maria Laet, Sarah Sze, Pieter
Vermeersch, Gosia Wlodarczack and John Wolseley.
21
Anna Barriball’s mural drawing Soundproof II is supported by
The performance of Andrea Galiazzo is sponsored by
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beeld/image: Michaël Borremans, The House of Opportunity (The Chance of a Lifetime), 2003
© Michaël Borremans; collectie S.M.A.K.