For the 2023 edition of ArtBrussels, RX & SLAG intend to present a selection of artists with a speech on a perpetually questioned humanity.
Hermann Nitsch (1938-2022), a leading figure of Viennese Actionism, has presented for many years his Theater, a scene of action where extreme acts and scarlet stagings served a therapeutic and exutory function. His canvases, shunning traditional painting, are meant to convey the intensity of his Aktions which engendered these paintings.
Tamara Kostianovsky (b. 1974), shocks and conveys a sense of discomfort to her viewer with her work dealing with the environment, violence and consumerism. Like Nitsch, Kostianovsky shocks in order to provoke a reaction: her hanging carcasses expose the flesh, yet alternate between aggression and softness. The forms suggest violence but the textile materials bring closeness.
This duality is also present in the work of Paul Wesenberg (b. 1973). Tearing, damaging and reattaching the canvas is Wesenberg’s true identity and artistic statement. The result is very expressive, and the lines sketch out the shapes of trees, forests or huts. Nature is an essential component in his work and in his artistic process.
Lastly, Vincent Gicquel (b. 1974), an artist recently represented by Galerie RX, displays tragicomic scenes of characters in their primary condition: naked. Nothing is covered up: the genitals are shown in a protruding way, provoking the eye. He is interested in Man, in all of humanity. His characters do strange activities and seem to be surprised in the middle of an action, as if the spectator was watching them. A look at once sad and happy can be read on their faces.