Ocula Report 4th Kochi-Muziris Biennale: Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life 15 Feb 2019 : Natalie King for Ocula 'Poems are like sentences that have taken their clothes off.' Marlene Dumas' poetic and sensual refrain accompanies her figurative watercolours on view in Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life, the fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) in the southern state of Kerala, India (12 December 2018–29 March 2019).Dumas' new series...
Ocula Conversation Ellen Altfest The paintings of Ellen Altfest are ethereal in their detail. Fields of minutiae come together as pulsating images; small brushstrokes of oil paint accumulate over a series of months to single out seemingly innocuous subjects, such as a hand resting atop patterned fabric (The Hand, 2011) or a deep green cactus reaching upwards from beneath a bed of...
Ocula Report Colomboscope 2019: Cross Currents and Dissonance 8 Feb 2019 : Nada Raza for Ocula On the rooftop of the former Rio Hotel complex in Colombo, it was hard to ignore the high-rise buildings, still under construction, blocking all but a sliver of what used to be an open view over Slave Island, once an island on Beira Lake that housed slaves in the 19th century, and now a downtown suburb. The hotel was set alight during the...
Axel Vervoordt Gallery was founded by Boris Vervoordt in the center of Antwerp in January 2011 as part of the Axel Vervoordt Company.
As a strong supporter of Zero and Gutai art movements from its inception, the gallery’s vision has gradually evolved into contemporary art with a special interest in the concept of the void, the process of the creation and in the questioning of the experience of space and time.
The gallery provides a neutral platform for artists with whom we’ve created a valuable, intense relationship. These relationships have never stopped growing since the exhibitions we created with the artists since 2007 at the Palazzo Fortuny in Venice, during the Biennial (Artempo. Where Time Becomes Art , In-finitum, TRA, Tàpies. The Eye of the Artist and Proportio) and in 2008 at the Ecole des Beaux-Art in Paris (Academia. Qui-es tu?).
The gallery is also proud to have collaborated at the major Gutai and Zero retrospective exhibitions at the Guggenheim, New York in 2013 (Gutai: Splendid Playground) and in 2014 (Zero: Countdown to Tomorrow 1950s-60s) and continues to work on firmly inscribing both art movements in art history.
Since 2013 we started publishing our Gutai book series together with academics like Reiko Tomii, Ming Tiampo and Shoichi Hirai in order to give an everlasting shape to Gutai’s historical importance. The first book in this series treated the work of Norio Imai and was presented during the Guggenheim Gutai retrospective. In 2014 a substantial publication about Tsuyoshi Maekawa followed and in 2015 also monographs about Yuko Nasaka and Kazuo Shiraga.
In May 2014, Axel Vervoordt Gallery expanded to Hong Kong and opened its first overseas exhibition venue in the city's central district. El Anatsui created new work for this occasion. By having a physical presence in Hong Kong, Axel Vervoordt Gallery will continue to bridge artistic expressions between the East and the West.
Both locations work closely with living contemporary artists while actively engaging with local and global audiences. We continue to publish monographs on the represented artists and participating in major contemporary art fairs internationally.
Ocula Conversation Axel Vervoordt Gallerist The booth of Axel Vervoordt Company at Frieze Masters in 2018 was hard to miss. Ancient Egyptian, Roman, and Near Eastern sculptures were placed in subtle yet mind-tickling dialogue with works by Niki De Saint Phalle, Takis, and Kazuo Shiraga, among others. Such groupings are not unusual for the Company, which comprises an art and antiques business...
Ocula Photolog West Bund Art & Design 2018 9 November 2018 'With a strong selection of returning exhibitors, the 2018 edition welcomes 87 galleries in the Galleries section, among which 39 are participating for the first time.'– West Bund Art & Design (8–11 November 2018).
Ocula Photolog Frieze Masters 2018 8 October 2018 'Frieze Masters brings together thousands of years of art in a unique, contemporary context, with over 130 of the world's leading galleries specialising in antiquities, Asian art, ethnographic art, illuminated manuscripts, medieval, modern and post-war art, Old Masters and 19th century, as well as photography, sculpture and wunderkammer.' –Frieze...
Ocula Photolog TEFAF New York Spring 2018 8 May 2018 'TEFAF New York Spring provides an unrivalled draw for a community of collectors, museum curators, and art lovers from around the world. In addition to showcasing the best of today's modern and contemporary art market, the art fair also features exhibitors focusing on jewellery, African and Oceanic art, and antiquities to provide a more...
Related Press YUN HYONG-KEUN, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART ArtAsiaPacific : 1 December 2018 When Donald Judd asked Yun Hyong-Keun what art is, the latter responded that art is 'artless and bland.' To some viewers of Yun's paintings—which have been associated with Korean Dansaekhwa—these words may serve as curious descriptors of the late artist's striking, monochromatic canvases.
Related Press Nevin Aladağ, Kimsooja, and Nari Ward Create Visual Metaphors for Migration, Exile, and Belonging Hyperallergic : 6 August 2018 KANSAS CITY, Missouri—It is safe to say that the United States is in the midst of a deep crisis of identity, fueled by nationalism, fear-mongering across the political spectrum, and denial about the legacy of migration. Worlds Otherwise Hidden at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City features work by three artists who materially and...
Related Press Frieze Sculpture 2018: the highlights Wallpaper* : 4 July 2018 Between Wimbledon and the FIFA World Cup, there's been plenty of distractions from London's unusually Mediterranean weather of late.
Related Press Japanese Gutai in the 1950s: Fast and Fearless The New York Times : 14 June 2018 In the 1950s, the artists of the newly formed Gutai group of Japan worked fast and fearlessly, changing styles and mediums at will, staying abreast of the latest postwar developments abroad. The mood of this band of innovators was eclectic — and electric — as demonstrated by "Gutai: 1953-1959," an ambitious show at Fergus...
Related Video & Audio Angel Vergara | Straatman Axel Vervoordt : 23 August 2017 Straatman first appeared in front of the Belgian pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1988. Ever since, he has been popping up in various places from Antwerp to Tokyo, both announced and by surprise. Leading up to the exhibition at Axel Vervoordt Gallery in September 2017, Straatman turned up in several locations around Antwerp throughout the month...
Related Video & Audio Michel Mouffe - Axel Vervoordt Gallery Axel Vervoordt Gallery : 8 June 2017 © Hugo Frey. Courtesy the artist and Axel Vervoordt Gallery.
Related Video & Audio Kimsooja on 'Brilliant Ideas' Bloomberg : 26 January 2017 Born in 1957 in Daegu, South Korea, Kimsooja started attracting the attention of the international art community when she began constructing Korean bottaris in her art – a gesture and motif that continues to appear in her work till today. Her art centers on the work and labor of women –beginning with her early sewn works, to her films and video...
Related Video & Audio Sadaharu Horio "Atarinae-no-Koto" Axel Vervoordt Gallery : 10 November 2016 Straatman first appeared in front of the Belgian pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1988. Ever since, he has been popping up in various places from Antwerp to Tokyo, both announced and by surprise. Leading up to the exhibition at Axel Vervoordt Gallery in September 2017, Straatman turned up in several locations around Antwerp throughout the month...
