With “Barefoot” and “Artificial Crossbreeding,” Koen Vanmechelen participates in “Inspiring Limits,” a unique exhibition on disability and inclusivity at VCRB Gallery in Antwerp. In this awareness and experience exhibition, contemporary artists show works that are accessible to people with disabilities who do not experience art in an everyday way. The artists step out of their usual way of working, or choose to exhibit existing artworks in a different way to the visitors of this special exhibition. The request “do not touch” is completely ignored. Inspiring Limits runs from Nov. 14, 2024, to Jan. 5, 2025.
The idea for the exhibition stems from the personal mission of Sven Van de Velde and his wife Tamara Nolens. Sven, the gallery's bookkeeper for 15 years, eventually went completely blind due to a congenital eye disease. His search for ways to experience art - through touch, smell and sound - inspired them to develop the Inspiring Limits project together with designer Roel Vandebeek, and gallerists Minneke van Campen and Erwin Buys.
For the project, various artists are invited to explore the theme of limitation in personal and innovative ways, with the goal of promoting inclusivity in the art world. The exhibition includes works in a variety of art forms, including painting, sculpture, sound art and scent art, and explores the unlimited power of art from a refreshing perspective.
Intersection between the organic and mythical
For this expo, Koen Vanmechelen explores intersections between the organic and mythical with sculptures such as Barefoot and Artificial Crossbreeding, in which glass and feathers embody the connection between humans, nature and evolution.
Barefoot emphasizes the connection to the earth. The sculpture visualizes a close connection between man and nature, between vulnerability and strength. The sculpture itself appears static, but also evokes a sense of movement and dynamism. It is as if it is wandering blindly, without a destination, like a mythical, spiritual being, a multiplicity in one. The legs give the sculpture an ethereal and timeless quality. Barefoot hovers between the boundaries of the physical and the spiritual, as a being both present and absent. But it is also barefoot, connected to the earth, vulnerable and oh so powerful.
Artificial Crossbreeding is a hybrid bird made of glass with the body of a stuffed turkey* and a skull that resembles a magnified chicken head. Artificial Crossbreeding seems to be at the intersection between a prehistoric, hybrid animal and a mythical, iconic creature. It is caught between reality and fiction. At its center is the theme of crossbreeding and evolutionary processes. Visually, the artwork draws attention through an intriguing combination of textures and colors, evoking associations with organic materials. The transparent legs and huge skull create a hybrid, alienating effect. The artwork raises questions: are we looking at a creature-in-the-making, a relic of the past, or a conceptual idea? Is this a Roc, a Garoeda, Phoenix, Raven or Thunderbird? Or perhaps something totally new?
*the animals died a natural death
Participating artists
Natasja Bennink, George De Decker, Folkert De Jong, Fred Eerdekens, Michèle Matyn, Marc Milissen, Piet Stockmans, Luc Tuymans, Roel Vandebeek, Koen Vanmechelen
Inspiring Limits
November 14, 2024 - January 5, 2025
VCRB Gallery Antwerp
De Burburestraat 14
2000 Antwerp
Belgium
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