Tim Van Laere Gallery combines work from the gallery's roster of artists with work by Francis Picabia, Pablo Picasso, Jean Tinguely and Hans Josephsohn
TO LIVE IS TO FLY, from 30 January until 5 April 2025
Tim Van Laere Gallery presents TO LIVE IS TO FLY, a group exhibition featuring works by Armen Eloyan, Adrian Ghenie, Kati Heck, Hans Josephsohn, Friedrich Kunath, Jonathan Meese, Muller Van Severen, Francis Picabia, Pablo Picasso, Tal R, Ben Sledsens, Dennis Tyfus, Jean Tinguely, Inès van den Kieboom, Rinus Van de Velde, and Franz West. United by their ability to challenge artistic conventions, these artists engage in a dialogue across time and space. Through their works, opposites are harmoniously juxtaposed: abstraction meets figuration, the grotesque embraces beauty and humor intertwines with philosophical reflection. The result is a conversation between abstraction, surrealism, figurative art and contemporary practices.
The influence of early modernism resonates throughout the exhibition as the legacy of artists like Pablo Picasso and Francis Picabia continues to shape the boundaries of contemporary art. Picasso’s break from visual conventions echoes in the work of Tal R who reduces forms and colors to their essence to question traditional norms. Ben Sledsens builds on this legacy by distilling landscapes into utopian, paradisiacal visions while Friedrich Kunath explores similar tensions between abstraction and figuration with melancholic landscapes that weave universal themes such as love, loss and vulnerability with humor and pop culture. Together these artists merge abstraction and figuration into a dialogue that places the essence of the human condition at its core. Adrian Ghenie takes this exploration further with his fragmented bodies while Kati Heck reimagines figuration by blending realism and abstraction into suggestive often enigmatic compositions. The sculptures of Hans Josephsohn add a tactile dimension to this dialogue, reducing the human figures to timeless, powerful essences.
Where abstraction and figuration intersect, a rich tension arises between personal narratives and universal themes. Rinus Van de Velde constructs a complex fictional autobiography, creating a world in which he reinterprets art history as a framework for personal reflection. Inès van den Kieboom transforms personal memories into universal symbols, balancing intimacy with shared experiences. In contrast, Dennis Tyfus channels life’s absurdity into raw, visceral images where his figures wander through surreal often elusive landscapes. Armen Eloyan and Jonathan Meese explore a similar complexity in their own ways: Eloyan’s raw, expressive scenes strip elements of pop culture and cartoons of their childlike innocence while Meese’s sculpture takes on theatrical proportions where mythology, power and absurdity collide.
The sculptures of Franz West, Muller Van Severen and Jean Tinguely invite us to approach art in a new, interactive way blurring the boundaries between art and everyday life. Franz West breaks the traditional distance between art and audience by inviting viewers to actively engage with his sculptures. These objects transform into experiential artworks, extensions of our bodies and our neuroses, making art tangible, intimate and accessible. Muller Van Severen expands on West’s participatory principles exploring the potential of minimalistic forms as functional objects. Their work prompts reflection on the way objects can function and how they can shape our daily lives. Jean Tinguely brings a dynamic dimension to this dialogue with his moving constructions, transcending the static exhibition space. His kinetic artworks challenge the notion of art as a detached experience, integrating movement and interaction so that art can not only be viewed but also be lived and shared. By inviting the audience to participate actively these works reinforce the idea of art as a vibrant, dynamic experience that connects both artist and viewer. These works liberate art from passive observation, transforming it into something living, dynamic and intimately tied to everyday life.
TO LIVE IS TO FLY is a celebration of the complexity of life, expressed through the liberating power of art. As themes of transcendence, absurdity, existentialism and humor unfold, the exhibition becomes more than a presentation of works—it transforms into a journey through time, space and human consciousness. It invites us to escape the ordinary, to soar, to dream, to question and ultimately to fly.
TO LIVE IS TO FLY
30 January - 5 April 2025
Tim Van Laere Gallery
Jos Smolderenstraat 50
2000 Antwerp
With: Armen Eloyan, Adrian Ghenie, Kati Heck, Hans Josephsohn, Friedrich Kunath, Jonathan Meese, Muller Van Severen, Francis Picabia, Pablo Picasso, Tal R, Ben Sledsens, Dennis Tyfus, Jean Tinguely, Inès van den Kieboom, Rinus Van de Velde and Franz West
