Hans Op de Beeck brings together his new sculptural and photographic works into one larger whole in his show “Kids, cabinets, pictures and ponds,” at Galleria Continua’s Les Moulins venue.In line with the exhibition title, the show starts with the display of “a kind of hiking trail with gravel and small sculpted ponds” on the ground floor of the gallery. A visitor would, in this installation, discover life-size sculpted figures of children and a young woman in everyday poses, with the eyes closed, as if lost in thought yet caught in a moment of high concentration.“There is, for example, a boy meditatively holding a crystal ball in his hands, a boy who just closed his eyes before shooting an arrow with a toy bow, and a young woman listening to music,” the gallery says.Beeck also displays a selection of ash-gray display cases, wherein he brings together, diverse sculptural interpretations ofkeepsake objects were brought together. The monochrome works of art exude the look of fossilized gems or archaeological finds.Referring to the significance of these cabinets, the gallery says, “In the tradition of the Wunderkammer of the European Renaissance (Cabinet of Curiosities), the collections of curiosities in each cabinet seem anachronistic and of the most diverse origin. The display cases bridge the thin line between valuable and worthless, between specialness and banality and the importance of stories to bring a still object to life. They are display cases that seem to have been stripped of all their luster and left behind as silent, abandoned units.”The exhibition also has on view, Beeck’s latest film “The Girl” (2017). Shown on the ground floor, the stirring film, follows the story of a 14-year-old girl as she lives an isolated existence in an old trailer near a lake, a highway and a dark forest.The second floor of the gallery showcases a compilation of monochrome photographs in which the idea of the staging of the image is explored in a variety of ways. Natural landscapes, as well as fictional ones, interiors and life-size characters, are shown together, aimed to address “man’s tragicomic desire for staging, ranging from furnishing a living room, setting up a party table to shaping the public space,” the gallery adds.Hans Op de Beeck (born 1969 Turnhout) lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. He is known for his large-scale immersive installations, sculptures, films, drawings, paintings, photographs, and texts. He writes, directs and creates stage design for plays. “His work,” the gallery writes, “is a reflection on our complex society and the universal questions of meaning and mortality that resonate within it.”Beeck has held solo and group exhibitions around the world. Kunstraum Dornbirn, Dornbirn, AU (2017); Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, DE (2017); Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, DE (2017); and Fondazione Museo Pino Pascali and Polignano a Mare, IT (2017) are some of the recent venues where his exhibitions were held.The exhibition will be on view through September 30, 2018, at Galleria Continua/Moulin de Boissy, 46 Rue de la Ferte Gaucher, 77169 Boissy-le-Chatel, FranceFor details, visit: http://encn.blouinartinfo.com/galleryguide/galleria-continua/overviewClick on the slideshow for a sneak peek of the exhibition.http://www.blouinartinfo.com Founder: Louise Blouin
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