Constant
Permeke
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of his death, BOZAR presents
a major retrospective of 130 works by the Flemish expressionist.
Marlene Dumas
and Thierry De Cordier
offer a contemporary vision of some of the themes explored by
Permeke in the course of his career.
11.10.2012 > 20.01.2013
BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts, rue
Ravensteinstraat 23, 1000 Brussel
Constant Permeke, Leonie, 1929-32,
Private collection © SABAM 2012
Constant
Permeke (1886–1952) could be described as the most authentic artist of Flanders of his time. Along with Gust De Smet and Frits Van den Berghe, he was one of the most important representatives of
Flemish
expressionism, also known as the second ‘school’ of
Latem.
The exhibition presents, chronologically and thematically,
more than 130 paintings, drawings, and sculptures that reveal every facet of the major themes in
Permeke's oeuvre. For Permeke, expressionism was more an attitude to life than a style. His approach to art was, above all, instinctive: he aimed to
make visible the "profoundly human".
Permeke had no equal when it came to depicting the
hard life of the
ordinary working people, from the fishermen of Ostend to the rural life of a peasant in
Jabbeke. The intimate "primal bond" that these people maintained with the land and the sea fascinated him. Other recurring motifs in
Permeke's work include
female nudes,
the woman as a symbol of fertility,
motherhood,
the family, and the
organic connection between humanity and nature.
De man met de vest,
KMSKA, Foto LukasArt in Flanders
© SABAM 2012
Some
of the key
works in the exhibition are:
Vissersvrouw
(1920 – Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp),
Het Dagelijks Brood (1950 –
Mu.Zee, Ostend), Over
Permeke (1922 – Mu.Zee,
Ostend), De Verloofden
(1923 – Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels),
Liggende Boer (1928 – Museum of Fine Arts,
Ghent), Marie-Lou
(1936 – Middelheimmuseum,
Antwerp), De Papeter (1922 –
Groeninge Museum, Bruges), and
De Stal
(1933 – Centre Pompidou, Paris).
By enlargement, synthesis, and abstraction,
Permeke created archetypes with a
monumental and
universal character. Despite his strong regional roots and the interest he took in the lives of ordinary people, his work has a universal significance,
arising from his constant quest for meaning and
the essence of life. He developed an oeuvre, strongly grounded in intuition, that was never illustrative, narrative, or anecdotal. His work has its
own aesthetic logic and can safely be called
timeless.
Het
dagelijkse brood, Collection
MuZEE, Oostende © SABAM 2012
Permeke's
style is clearly recognisable: rough forms and lines that often appear cubist (“physical cubism”), in an earthy colour palette. He captures
emotions in multiple shades of deep colours and tones, making use of
touches of light to further sharpen the focus. There are no external sources of light, rather an inner light that gives an emotional tension to the
darker, often almost black areas. Strikingly, it was in the periods that were darkest for him in personal terms (as when he lost his wife and his two children), that he reacted by seeking out the light in his art.
His technique was distinctive: a
mixture of painting and drawing, often with charcoal, watercolours enhanced with colour pigments, and chalk mixed with turpentine. His monumental force
led him to sculpture, in which he concentrated almost exclusively on the female nude. There is, however, no idealisation of human beauty in
Permeke: the focus is on universal humanity.
Over
Permeke,
Collection MuZEE, Oostende,
© SABAM 2012
Permeke's
works are flanked by those of two internationally renowned artists:
Marlene Dumas and
Thierry De
Cordier. Their work offers a contemporary view on some of the themes that so moved
Permeke: the nude and the
natural landscape. Marlene Dumas (born in
1953 in Cape Town, South Africa) exhibits ten drawings of nudes, while
Thierry De Cordier (born in 1954 in Oudenaarde, Belgium) presents eight new landscape paintings, created
specially for this exhibition.
The curator of the exhibition is
Willy Van den Bussche, honorary chief curator of the PMMK - Museum of Modern Art Ostend (today known as Mu.ZEE) and the Constant
Permeke Museum in Jabbeke.
BOZAR will not be the only art institution to commemorate
Permeke this autumn: the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp will present, in its Queen
Fabiola Hall,
De
Modernen: Rondom
Permeke
(15 September 2012 > 24 February 2013), while the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels will host
Permeke,
Van den Berghe, and De Smet and Expressionism.
Curator: Willy Van den Bussche
Production:
BOZAR
EXPO in collaboration with the Royal Museum for Fine Arts Antwerp
Sponsor:
Puilaetco
Dewaay
Visitor
information
Constant
Permeke.
Retrospective
in conversation with Marlene Dumas and Thierry De Cordier.
Address:
BOZAR - Centre for Fine Arts, Rue Ravensteinstraat 23, 1000 Brussels
Dates:
11 October 2012 > 20 January 2013
Opening
hours
Tuesdays to Sundays, 10 am > 6 pm
Thursdays, 10 am > 9 pm
Closed don Mondays
Tickets:
€ 10,00 (discounts on
www.bozar.be)
More
info and press images: http://www.bozar.be/activity.php?id=12489
Overview of the exhibition calendar:
Autumn
at the Centre for Fine Arts
ARCHITECTURE
20
Models: Young Belgian Architecture
27.09.2012
> 25.11.2012
N|I|C|H|E is a selection of 20 promising young architectural
practices, with 20 models of one of their first large-scale projects and 20 talks. Inaugurated in 2008, this series of micro-exhibitions and talks is coming to an end. BOZAR ARCHITECTURE and A+ are celebrating their four seasons by publishing a catalogue of
the series and inviting the 20 practices to bring together, for one last time, the models of their achievements.
Tickets: Free entrance
More info and press images:
http://www.bozar.be/activity.php?id=11661
PHOTOGRAPHY
Charif
Benhelima: Polaroids 1998-2012
04.10
> 18.11.2012
In October BOZAR presents a small solo exhibition of
Charif Benhelima. A unique collection of works forming different series:
Harlem on my Mind - I was, I am: 1999 - 2002,
Semites: 2003 - 2005, Black-Out: (2005-present) and
Roots : (2008 - present) shown for the first time in Belgium. These 280
Polaroids offer a nearly complete overview of his work.
Tickets: Free entrance
More info and press images: http://www.bozar.be/activity.php?id=12616
CONTEMPORARY
ART
DABA
Maroc: Faouzi
Laatiris & Hassan Darsi
12.10.2012
> 13.01.2013
In the context of the Brussels festival
Daba
Maroc, the Centre for Fine Arts invites two contemporary
Maroccan artists. The cruel beauty of the everyday life is brought up by
Faouzi Laatiris through the help of mirrors, tapestries and gardens. Hassan
Darsi creates a link between art and social life in his installations, interventions, films and sculptures.
Tickets: Free entrance
More info and press images:
http://www.bozar.be/activity.php?id=12644
DESIGN
& ARCHITECTURE
Jules
Wabbes: Retrospective
17.10.2012
> 13.01.2013
BOZAR ARCHITECTURE and A+ present the first retrospective
exhibition to be devoted to Jules Wabbes, one of the most famous of post-war Belgian furniture designers.
Wabbes is known above all for his collaboration to the projects of
Foncolin and Glaverbel. As well as original drawings by Jules
Wabbes, the exhibition includes other contemporary documents and unique pieces of furniture.
Tickets: € 8,00 (discounts on www.bozar.be)
More info and press images:
http://www.bozar.be/activity.php?id=11662
ARCHITECTURE
North-South
Rail Connection – Ideas competition
07.12.2012
> 27.01.2013
Variously seen as a technical exploit, an urban wound, an asset, or a scar, the link
constructed a few decades ago between the North and South railway stations in Brussels continues to divide opinions today. Belgium’s busiest section of railway line, the connection is now close to saturation point. With a view to planning for the future of
this underground but essential aspect of mobility and life in Brussels, a number of architectural practices have been invited to take a look at the issues.
Tickets: Free entrance
More info and press images: http://www.bozar.be/activity.php?id=11663
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