Peter Morrens: Belo Horizonte

The second solo exhibition by Peter Morrens (1965, lives and works in Antwerp) opens at Kristof De Clercq gallery on Sunday, March 18, 2018. Morrens is working on a multi-faceted oeuvre, comprising of drawings, photographs, installations and performances, through which he gives form to his fascinations for sensuality, the experience of time, sexuality, destruction, fetishism, unrest, rhythm, reversal, and transgression. Ambiguity, absurdity, but also confused and confusing language and an inappropriate sense of humour are his key sources.  

The exhibition at Kristof De Clercq gallery takes on the form of an all-over installation, as was also the case with his solo show in 2014. Morrens is presenting his work in a large, two-part wall-based installation conceived according to the structure of the exhibition spaces. In this structure, he places recent drawings and objects that he has grouped associatively in his studio. Simultaneously confrontational and harmonizing, he allows images of an intimate nature to enter into dialogue with ‘reality outside’: politics, history, the major narratives. The exhibition title, Belo Horizonte, refers—among others—to the horizon in art history, that imaginary line where sky and earth meet, but also cleave each other in half. At the same time, the title implies an ironic commentary on thought about and viewing of art, and a self-affirming search for beauty and unity.

Morrens’ practice is driven by intuition: in a playful, probing way he finds, selects and reworks images. Using pencil, charcoal, graphite or paint, images and compositions are constructed and attacked, worked on, tampered with, distorted, erased. Perception itself, but also the viewer’s precise position are central concerns in Morrens’ work. The artist seems to offer us a window onto the world, or to create an illusion of such a prospect. An image is that which shifts between viewer and reality. Morrens very often reprises older works, in order to consciously disrupt the chronology of his oeuvre. The passage of time is thereby made to speed up or slow down, to be transformed, and freeze.

In the capacity of various personae—Peter Morrens, PM, Herman Smit, Point Blank Press—the artist works in a disparate manner on various series of drawings, objects and installations. Morrens does not believe in the complete autonomy of a work, but focuses on the thrilling opportunities a format such as an exhibition or a book can provide. In that way, there is always a tense, associative connection between the parts and the whole, which—temporarily—engage in a relationship with the space and/or context.

Kristof De Clercq gallery will also feature a solo show by Peter Morrens at Art Brussels, from April 19 to 22, 2018.