upcoming exhibitions
William Cobbing
Els Vanden Meersch
We – Sa. 14:00 - 18:00
Screening
The Black Room: Melvin Moti
Saturday 11th November, 20.30-????
Netwerk / center for contemporary art
Houtkaai z/n B-9300 Aalst Belgium
T. 32(0)53 70 97 73 x F. 32(0)53 70 97 72 x
info@netwerk-art.be
www.netwerk-art.be
William Cobbing
‘Against a sky a lavabo’s white stands out, or a bathtub, or some other porcelain, like late fruit still hanging from the boughs. You would think the plumbers had finished their job and gone away before the bricklayers arrived; or else their hydraulic systems, indestructible, had survived a catastrophe, an earthquake, or the corrosion of termites.’ (Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities, 1974)
William Cobbing’s sculptural actions simultaneously disturb and intensify the physical liaison between an individual and his environment. His work depicts a primary architectural and corporeal awareness through intriguing interventions. His recent stay at the British School in Rome opened new perspectives on Pompeii’s archeological heritage and it’s psychological dimension. As a sculptor, Cobbing was allready familiar with the cast bodies of anomymous victims of the Vesuvius. In his recent work the analogy between dreams and excavations serves as a metaphoric departure for psychic explorations. The peculiar mechanisms of the human mind are externalized through an exhibition blending sculptural references to Antiquity with elements of sewer systems and sanitary.
William Cobbing (°1974, London) lives and works in London. Education: 2000 De Ateliers, Amsterdam / 1997 Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London. Exhibitions (selection): 2003 Percy Miller Gallery, London / 2002 Galerie Fons Welters.
Els Vanden Meersch
After Transient constructions (2003) and Paranoid obstructions (2004), Els Vanden Meersch presents the third release of her photographic work in book format. Central theme is the memory of architecture. The historical scope of her latest publication reinforces the thematic sensibilities of her earlier phographic work: the control mechanisms, the paranoia and the latent violence behind large-scale building constructions.
Els Vanden Meersch (1970, Ninove) lives and works in Antwerp. Education: 2002 Rijksacademie, Amsterdam / 1999 HISK, Antwerpen / 1994 Sint-Lukas, Brussels. Exhibitions (selection): 2006 Annie Gentils, Antwerpen Croxhapox, Ghent / 2004 De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam / 1999 Netwerk Galerij, Aalst.
Melvin Moti
The screening of Black Room by filmmaker Melvin Moti connects closely to William Cobbing’s exhibition. The camera slowly pans the length of a Roman wall setting, an image that is practically suspended in time. It is about fragmentary views of sacred and idyllic scenery of The Black Room, from the Villa Agrippa in Boscotrecase (Pompeii).
The voice-over is a rendition of a fictional interview with Robert Desnos (1900-1945) about the hypnosis and sleeping sessions of the Parisian surrealists. The intensity of the black image entangles with Desnos’ contagious report, blurring the boundaries between ancient and recent past.