Michaël Aerts
Please Please Me
12 December, 2009–17 January, 2010
Opening: 11 December 2009, 9pm
Vlaams Cultuurhuis de Brakke Grond
Nes 45, 1012 KD Amsterdam
The Netherlands
0031 (0)20 – 6229014
Flemish Arts Centre ‘De Brakke Grond’ presents the solo exhibition Please Please Me by the Belgian visual artist Michaël Aerts.
With his sculptures, subtle drawings and a completely equipped SM-darkroom, Aerts presents an overview of his largely monumental work. Please Please Me not only sizzles with inferred significance, but also attempts to draw the spectator out of his or her daily routine.
Aerts’s colossal sculptures are witness to his interest in changing socio-cultural symbols. Take for instance the ‘life-size’ obelisk, built up out of flight cases which are normally used for the transport of musical equipment, or the classical temple façades that float in the air. Music, smoke and sophisticated lighting surround the sculptures with a party atmosphere.
In the drawings and the SM-darkroom, too, we see how Aerts is fascinated by ecstasy and the shifting of reality and symbols. Bondage and other forms of rough sex cause the image people have of each other to tumble, and the same effect grips the visitors to the extraordinary collection of objects in Aerts’s SM-darkroom.
The exhibition is organised in cooperation with DEWEER Gallery Otegem, Belgium, www.deweergallery.com .
Opening 11 December, 9pm
Performance, Late Night Show & DJ Bart Skils
Aerts crosses swords with his Flemish colleague artist Vadim Vosters in the fencing performance Refence. In a Late Night Show, Aerts enters into discussions with guests from within and outside the art world. Martin C. de Waal chairs this evening’s panel. DJ Bart Skils perfects the party with a silent disco.
Michaël Aerts (Belgium, 1979)
Aerts exhibited last summer in Milan with A Night at the Playboy Mansion and this year made his debut in New York at the biennial Performa. Michaël Aerts is represented by DEWEER Gallery Otegem (B) and works with Federico Luger Gallery Milan and Ron Mandos Amsterdam.
Flemish Arts Centre ‘De Brakke Grond’ offers the most characteristic, contemporary art productions in Flanders, including pictorial art, architecture, literature, dance and theatre, music, performance, film and new media. The emphasis is on innovation, cross-pollination, interdisciplinarity, and artistic nerve. In addition to being a place where artists can present their work and a home base for Flemish artists, de Brakke Grond always wants to be haven of reflection and contemplation, of debate and discussion. De Brakke Grond feeds and maintains the dialogue between genres, disciplines and communities.
For more detailed information about the visual arts programme:
fleurie.kloostra@brakkegrond.nl
0031 (0)20-6229014
For more press information:
veerle.desmedt@brakkegrond.nl
0031 (0)20-6229014
