{"id":95660,"date":"2021-04-28T09:48:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T07:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.centredelagravure.be\/?post_type=extra&p=95660"},"modified":"2021-04-28T09:48:39","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T07:48:39","slug":"b23","status":"publish","type":"extra","link":"https:\/\/www.centredelagravure.be\/en\/extra\/b23\/","title":{"rendered":"Kendell Geers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kendell Geers se d\u00e9crit volontiers comme un AniMystikAKtivist<\/em>,<\/span> et a une pratique que l\u2019on pourrait tout aussi qualifier de sculpturale que de linguistico\u2011conceptuelle, induisant aussi de fa\u00e7on r\u00e9currente des gestes performatifs. S\u2019appuyant sur une iconographie qui mixe avec une indiff\u00e9renciation assum\u00e9e de l\u2019histoire de l\u2019art, la pornographie, le kitsch, Kendell Geers s\u2019exprime en utilisant des medias et mat\u00e9riaux de pr\u00e9dilection aussi vari\u00e9s que les n\u00e9ons, le verre, le scotch \u00e0 chevrons, le fil barbel\u00e9, le langage. Il est important de contextualiser l\u2019\u0153uvre que nous pr\u00e9sentons ici : Il s\u2019agit \u00e0 la lettre d\u2019un billet de banque de 500 euros, d\u00fbment encadr\u00e9 et tamponn\u00e9 de l\u2019expression f**k<\/em> qui cristallise de fa\u00e7on r\u00e9currente dans son travail une critique iconoclaste par rapport \u00e0 des valeurs normatives de notre soci\u00e9t\u00e9.<\/span> L\u2019\u0153uvre a \u00e9t\u00e9 produite pour Anonymously yours<\/em>, une exposition de fund\u2011raising organis\u00e9e en 2012, en faveur d\u2019un centre d\u2019art bruxellois, Maison Gr\u00e9goire. Quelque 80 artistes avaient r\u00e9pondu \u00e0 l\u2019invitation \u00e0 pr\u00e9senter une \u0153uvre de format A4, pr\u00e9sent\u00e9e de fa\u00e7on anonyme dans l\u2019espace et dans le catalogue du projet, avant d\u2019\u00eatre propos\u00e9e \u00e0 la vente pour le prix standard de 400 euros, dont 50% revenaient \u00e0 l\u2019artiste et 50% \u00e0 l\u2019asbl. Parmi ces artistes des personnalit\u00e9s tr\u00e8s \u00e9tablies \u00e0 l\u2019instar d\u2019Edith Dekyndt, Kendell Geers ou Denicolai & Provoost et des figures plus \u00e9mergentes se c\u00f4toyaient et se trouvaient comme mises au m\u00eame niveau, ind\u00e9pendamment de leurs cotes respectives. Ce n\u2019est qu\u2019\u00e0 la fin de l\u2019exposition qu\u2019un signet donnait les noms des artistes repris dans le catalogue. Dans la plupart des cas, il s\u2019agissait pour les acqu\u00e9reurs d\u2019acheter \u00e0 l\u2019aveugle, en dehors de la sp\u00e9culation habituelle souvent li\u00e9e \u00e0 l\u2019achat d\u2019\u0153uvres d\u2019art. Dans ce contexte, la proposition de Kendell Geers s\u2019imposait de fa\u00e7on radicale, par son extr\u00eame g\u00e9n\u00e9rosit\u00e9, en d\u00e9tournant l\u2019id\u00e9e d\u2019anonymat (car directement reconnaissable par ce tampon qui lui sert de crypto\u2011signature) et en mettant en acte de fa\u00e7on litt\u00e9rale dans le chef de l\u2019artiste, un refus du profit et de la sp\u00e9culation. Ce fut d\u2019ailleurs tout naturellement la premi\u00e8re \u0153uvre achet\u00e9e de l\u2019exposition, par un collectionneur bruxellois auquel nous souhaitons rendre hommage. Un billet de 500 euros, \u00e0 la fois enrichi et d\u00e9natur\u00e9\/d\u00e9fonctionnalis\u00e9 par l\u2019artiste (alt\u00e9r\u00e9s, les billets de banque perdent en th\u00e9orie toute valeur), encadr\u00e9 par ses soins, il \u00e9tait vendu \u00e0 400 euros, dont 200 lui reviendraient. L\u2019immense plus\u2011value potentielle du geste d\u00e9sacralisateur de Kendell Geers \u00e9tait inhib\u00e9e par le protocole du projet, marquant ainsi la radicalit\u00e9 de son message qui nous invite \u00e0 remettre en question de fa\u00e7on fondamentale l\u2019arbitraire de la valeur des choses, et, en premier lieu de l\u2019argent, et de nous en d\u00e9tacher. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

English<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kendell Geers readily describes himself as an AniMystikAKtivist<\/em>,<\/span> and has a practice that could be described as sculptural as well as linguistically-conceptual, also recurrently giving rise to performative actions. Relying on an iconography that mixes, with an assumed lack of differentiation, pornography, kitsch and art history, Kendell Geers expresses himself by using media and materials that is as varied as neon lights, glass, herringbone tape, barbed wire and language. In his work that incorporates and interweaves cultural sources as diverse as animism, alchemy, mysticism, with Afro-European traditions, Geers produces works that directly appeal to the viewer by questioning established moral norms and conventions. It is important to contextualize the work that we present here: It is literally a 500-euro banknote, duly framed and stamped with the expression f..k <\/em>which repeatedly crystallizes, in his work, an iconoclastic critique of the normative values of our societies.<\/span> The work was produced for Anonymously yours<\/em>, a fund-raising exhibition organized in 2012, for a Brussels art centre, Maison Gr\u00e9goire. Some 80 artists had responded to the invitation to present an A4-size work, presented anonymously in the space and in the project catalogue, before being offered for sale for the standard price of 400 euros, of which 50 % went to the artist and 50% to the non-profit organisation. Among these artists, highly established figures such as Edith Dekyndt, Kendell Geers or Denicolai & Provoost and more emerging figures rubbed shoulders and found themselves on equal footing, regardless of their respective status. It was only at the end of the exhibition that a bookmark disclosed the names of the artists included in the catalogue. In most cases, it was a question of blind buying, outside the usual speculation often linked to the purchase of works of art. In this context, the contribution of Kendell Geers came across as radical, by its extreme generosity, by diverting the idea of anonymity (being instantly recognizable by this stamp which serves as a crypto-signature) and by literally enacting, on the part of the artist, a refusal of profit and speculation. It was quite naturally the first work purchased from the exhibition, by a Brussels collector to whom we wish to pay tribute. A 500-euro banknote, both enriched and denatured\/defunctionalized by the artist (altered banknotes, in theory, lose all value), framed by him, it was sold for 400 euros, of which 200 would come back to him. The immense potential added value of Kendell Geers’ desacralizing gesture was inhibited by the project’s protocol, thus marking the radicality of his message which invites us to fundamentally question the arbitrariness of the value of things, first and foremost money, and to detach ourselves from it. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-95660","extra","type-extra","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centredelagravure.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/extra\/95660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centredelagravure.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/extra"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centredelagravure.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/extra"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centredelagravure.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}