BUILDINGBOX is dedicating the 2019-2020 season to contemporary glass art with the project Dalla sabbia, opere in vetro (From sand, works in glass). The second series of exhibitions in BUILDINGBOX – spread over 12 monthly appointments – presents the works Under Pressure and Open Secret by the Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen. They represent a perfect point of encounter and transition between the first series, which recently ended - 5779, curated by Nicola Trezzi, devoted to light - and the new exploration of contemporary glass, curated by BUILDING in collaboration with Jean Blanchaert. For 12 months a sequence of works by various artists will be hosted in the independent showcase, visible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, marking the passing of time and eliciting broader reflections on how time tends to dominate space.
The glass box holds a collection, a cluster of glass and marble eggs of similar sizes, each a world in itself. Though their surfaces and transparency suggest uniformity to the viewer, each is in fact unique and singular. The lightness of their skin is an illusion as the glass is heavy. Their oval structure is the shape of the original cell, the place where life originates. This organic form contrasts with the almost mathematical minimalism of the construction, and of the mysterious formula on the wall. A genetic code. A DNA molecule, made up out of its fundamental units A, G, C, and T. The creation of life. Is this box exposing or protecting this colony of forms, or both? Is it through the pressure of the group that the singular beauty of each glass oval becomes evident?
EXHIBITION FACTS October 11, 2019 – November 11, 2019 visible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Koen Vanmechelen Under Pressure, 2014 glass, glass eggs, marble eggs 45 x 45 x 45 cm
Open Secret, 2019 neon 10 x 203 x 3 cm
