Hans Op de Beeck - Cabinet of Curiosities

HANS OP DE BEECK
Cabinet of Curiosities
Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam
08.09.2018 - 27.10.2018
Galerie Ron Mandos proudly presents Cabinet of Curiosities by Hans Op de Beeck, including sculptures, watercolors and video. Op de Beeck’s newest series of sculptures is a contemporary interpretation of the Wunderkammer – a cabinet filled with a wide range of curiosities. This longstanding tradition of collecting cultural and natural objects originates from the European Renaissance. With his work, Op de Beeck reflects on our complex society and the universal questions of meaning and mortality that resonate within it. The exhibition will be on view from 8 September until 27 October 2018.

Cabinet of Curiosities’ monochrome grey display cases show a variety of sculptural interpretations of memorable objects. These ash-grey artefacts resemble fossilized gems or archaeological finds, brought together by a fictive, anonymous collector. The display cases seem to have been stripped of all their sheen and left behind as silent, abandoned units. The collections of curiosities in each cabinet bridge the thin line between value and worthlessness, uniqueness and banality, emphasising the importance of stories in bringing a still object to life.

Simultaneously with Cabinet of Curiosities, Sea of Tranquillity will be on view at The National Maritime Museum, which will run until 9 June 2019. The exhibition presents a dark, mysterious picture of a mythical cruise ship, featuring an immersive, atmospheric film with no dialogue, the theme song of which is composed by Op de Beeck. In addition, Sea of Tranquillity presents an illuminated model ship, display cases, as well as lifelike sculptures.

About the artist
Hans Op de Beeck (BE, 1969) produces large installations, sculptures, films, drawings, paintings, photographs and texts. He regards man as a being who stages the world around him in a tragi-comic way. Above all, Op de Beeck is keen to stimulate the viewers’ senses, and invite them to really experience the image. He seeks to create a form of visual fiction that delivers a moment of wonder, silence and introspection.

Recent solo exhibitions include Kunstraum Dornbirn, Dornbirn, AU (2017); Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, DE (2017); Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, DE (2017); Fondazione Museo Pino Pascali, Polignano a Mare, IT (2017); Espace 104, Paris, FR (2016); Art Unlimited, Basel, CH (2016); Screen Space, Melbourne, AU (2015); MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, Boston MA, US (2014); MOCA Cleveland, OH, US (2014); Sammlung Goetz, Munich, D (2014); Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, USA (2013); the Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL, USA (2013); FRAC Paca, Marseille, F (2013).

Op de Beeck has participated in numerous group shows at institutions such as Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels, BE; The Reina Sofia, Madrid, ES; the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, AZ, US; the Towada Art Center, Towada, JP; ZKM, Karlsruhe, DE; MACRO, Rome, IT; the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, GB; PS1, New York, NY, US; Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR.