CENTRALE for contemporary art in Brussels presents two exhibitions with Roger Ballen

From November 2019 to March 2020, CENTRALE for contemporary art offers two new and unique exhibitions: Roger Ballen – The Theatre of the Ballenesque and Correspondances, an original dialogue between Ronny Delrue and Roger Ballen. 

The Theatre of the Ballenesque, the first Brussels major show of artist Roger Ballen, includes photographs, videos and installations in situ, and also blends in some of the artist’s graphic interventions. Roger Ballen is indisputably one of the most important photographers of his generation. Born in New York in 1950, he has lived and worked in South Africa for more than 30 years. His work has been collected and exhibited in Tate Britain (London, UK), Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, NL), MoMA (New York, US) and in the Museum Dr. Guislain (Ghent, BE), etc. 

The Theatre of the Ballenesque invites visitors to a completely immersive journey in the universe of the artist. Spectators will be able to fully experience the richness and density of a complex work that explores the meanders of the human spirit. Having graduated in psychology and then geology, Roger Ballen decided to explore the depth of the human mind through the means of photography. Under the impulsive hand and the methodological eye of the artist, components emerge, becoming the elements of a theatre of the absurd: the Ballenesque. 

This exploration of the unconscious is also at the origin of the exhibition Correspondances in which the Belgian artist Ronny Delrue will present his photographs, in dialogue with those of Roger Ballen, enhanced by his drawings and photomontages of the two artists. 

The two projects at CENTRALE are the result of unprecedented collaborations with major Belgian institutions: Ancienne Belgique and S.M.A.K. (Ghent). 

As part of the forty years of the concert hall of Ancienne Belgique will be held the concert of the internationally renowned South African group Die Antwoord, with whom Roger Ballen collaborates regularly, among others for the video I fink you freeky, which enjoyed millions of views on Internet. Roger Ballen will provide an artistic intervention to the group’s performance of November 25, 2019 at AB. 

Finally, the exhibition Correspondances by Ronny Delrue, presented in parallel at S.M.A.K., will also include collaborations with Roger Ballen. 

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Roger Ballen – The Theatre of the Ballenesque

​Curators: Carine Fol & Stéphane Roy

Ronny Delrue – Roger Ballen – Correspondances ​

​Curators: Carine Fol & Philippe Van Cauteren
​
​In collaboration with S.M.A.K.

Press conference: 12.11.2019, 11am
​Opening: 13.11.2019
​
​Exhibition: 14.11.2019 > 14.03.2020

CENTRALE for contemporary art
​Place Sainte-Catherine 44, 1000 Brussel
s
​WOE > ZON 10:30 > 18:00

Correspondances, in parallel at S.M.A.K.

Opening: 25.10.2019
​
​Exhibition: 25.10.2019 > 19.01.2020
​S.M.A.K.
​
​Jan Hoetplein 1, 9000 Gent
​
​DIN > VRI 9:30 > 17:30
​
​ZAT > ZON 10:00 > 18:00
​​
https://smak.be/

Concert Die Antwoord

​25.11.2019, 20:00
​Ancienne Belgique
​
​Boulevard Anspach 110, 1000 Brussel
s
​https://www.abconcerts.be/

Press Contact
​​
​Club Paradis
​Albane Paret
​[email protected] ​ ​
​+32 (0)476 57 37 82

Communication contacts
​​
​Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Brussels ​
​Estelle Vandeweeghe, Communication manager CENTRALE
​[email protected] – T. +32 (0)2 279 64 86

Aldermanship for Cultural Affairs of the City of Brussels ​
​Julie Nicosia
​[email protected] - T. +32 (0)2 279 48 56 – M. +32 (0) 490 52 45 08