Xavier Hufkens presents a new exhibition of works by Thierry De Cordier
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Xavier Hufkens is honoured to present a new exhibition of works by Thierry De Cordier spanning the period from 1983 to today — none of which have previously been exhibited. The exhibition, nonetheless, is not intended to be a retrospective.
De Cordier might best be described as a non-academic thinker who makes things. His oeuvre includes, but is not limited to, photographs, drawings, placards, paintings, sculptures, assemblages and bricolage. These ‘objects’ and ‘non-objects’, as he calls them, can be viewed as representations of his thinking. They visualize his ideas and, as such, are illustrative of them. Simply put, his oeuvre is a philosophy expressed in images. De Cordier’s worldview leans heavily towards Albert Camus’ concept of Absurdism, which describes the futility of searching for significance in an incomprehensible universe, devoid of either God or meaning. In other words, people merely exist. Or, as De Cordier says: ‘Inutile, l’homme est là à être là inutilement...’ [Useless, man is there just being there uselessly...].
Thierry De Cordier (b. 1954, Ronse, Belgium) currently lives and works in Ostend, Belgium. A large room dedicated to his work was included in the exhibition The Encyclopaedic Palace at the Venice Biennale (2013). Solo exhibitions include Iconotextures at Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels (2016); Landschappen at BOZAR, Brussels (2012); and Drawings at the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2004-2005). He represented Belgium at the Venice Biennale in 1997.
THIERRY DE CORDIER II
Passe-montagne
8 September — 14 October 2023
Xavier Hufkens
6 Rue St-Georges
1050 Brussels
%2C%201991.jpg "Thierry De Cordier, ÉCRITOIRE (Summer), 1991 ink on photograph 29.8 × 20.6 cm. Photo credit: HV-studio Courtesy the Artist and Xavier Hufkens, Brussels")
%2C%202011-2023.jpg "Thierry De Cordier, EGO STREAMER (Signature), 2011-2023 oil on unstretched canvas 46 × 231.5 cm. Photo credit: HV-studio Courtesy the Artist and Xavier Hufkens, Brussels")
%2C%202023.jpg "Thierry De Cordier, Only Words (Aujourd’hui était une journée parfaite...), 2023 oil on wood 29.4 × 43.1 cm. Photo credit: HV-studio Courtesy the Artist and Xavier Hufkens, Brussels")
Thierry De Cordier, Only Words (Aujourd’hui était une journée parfaite...), 2023 oil on wood 29.4 × 43.1 cm. Photo credit: HV-studio Courtesy the Artist and Xavier Hufkens, Brussels%2C%201983%20-%201990.jpg "Thierry De Cordier, SOUVENIR AN DEN JUNGFRAU (plaque commémorative), 1983-1990 oil, enamel, varnish and pencil on metal plate with 4 perforations 100 × 100 cm. Photo credit: HV-studio Courtesy the Artist and Xavier Hufkens, Brussels")
Thierry De Cordier, SOUVENIR AN DEN JUNGFRAU (plaque commémorative), 1983-1990 oil, enamel, varnish and pencil on metal plate with 4 perforations 100 × 100 cm. Photo credit: HV-studio Courtesy the Artist and Xavier Hufkens, Brussels