Ocula Report ART X Lagos: Nigeria’s Art Renaissance 17 Nov 2018 : Jareh Das for Ocula Nigeria's art scene has flourished over the last decade, leading to a renewed interest in cultivating and supporting modern and contemporary art in the country. Ranked Africa's largest economy in 2017, making up 0.8 percent of the world's GDP, a surge in wealth amongst some individuals has led to a developing collector base (not to mention rising...
Ocula Conversation Cao Fei Artist Cao Fei's first large-scale institutional exhibition in Asia, A hollow in a world too full (8 September 2018–4 January 2019), is taking place at Tai Kwun Contemporary in Hong Kong, the city's new non-profit art centre housed in a former colonial police and prison complex in Central. Organised in collaboration with Ullens Center for Contemporary Art...
Ocula Report Shanghai's West Bund and Art021 fairs overlap in 2018 17 Nov 2018 : Diana d’Arenberg for Ocula The last time I visited West Bund Art & Design was four years ago, when the fair was in its first year of operation: a small, boutique offering held in a cavernous hangar that seemed too big for it. Much has changed since then. Mirroring the rapid development of the city itself, West Bund has grown from 25 galleries in 2014 to a fair that...
Xavier Hufkens is one of Europe’s leading galleries for contemporary art. Located in Brussels, the gallery maintains a diverse exhibition programme with solo exhibitions of the gallery artists as well as group exhibitions and special projects. The gallery deals in a distinctive combination of painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, video and installation-based work.
The origins of the gallery date back to 1987, when Xavier Hufkens opened a gallery space in an un-refurbished warehouse in the neighbourhood of the South Station (Midi) in Brussels. During the early years, the focus of the gallery was upon mid-career and emerging artists and the gallery is known for having introduced some of the most influential contemporary artists to Brussels at a time when they were still relatively unknown. British sculptor Antony Gormley, who is still affiliated with the gallery, Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Rosemarie Trockel all showed in Belgium for the first time with Xavier Hufkens (Gormley in 1987; Gonzalez-Torres in 1991 and Trockel in 1993).
In 1992, the gallery moved to a 19th-century townhouse at 6 rue Saint-Georges, close to the Avenue Louise. Completely renovated by Belgian architects Paul Robbrecht, Hilde Daem and Marie-José Van Hee, the house quickly gained a reputation for being not just one of the most beautiful contemporary art spaces in the Belgian capital, but also one of the most interesting. The expanded exhibition programme coincided with the additional representation of a number of established artists from Belgium and abroad, including Richard Artschwager, Thierry De Cordier and Jan Vercruysse. In 1997, Hufkens expanded the gallery further by annexing the adjacent building and a number of new artists joined the gallery, including Louise Bourgeois, Roni Horn and Thomas Houseago.
A second space in the same street, at 107 rue Saint-Georges, opened in spring 2013. Located in the Galerie Rivoli, a mixed-use commercial development from the 1970s, the new gallery space was designed by Swiss architect Harry Gugger, who was previously in partnership with Herzog and De Meuron. Slegten & Toegemann, Brussels, managed the project.
An eclectic but very clear vision underpins all of the gallery’s activities: 'The definition of the gallery was established from the start. The common thread, then and now, is quality over and above everything else, which I find more intellectually challenging than a forced definition. From the early days I juxtaposed established artists such as Michelangelo Pistoletto with someone like Felix Gonzalez-Torres when he was totally unknown. Today I still mix my work: I have no problem showing Malcolm Morley … alongside Robert Ryman, or Willem de Kooning.' [Xavier Hufkens in The Art Newspaper, Issue 220, January 2011, published online: 20 January 2011]
Xavier Hufkens represents some thirty artists from different generations. He was part of the six-member selection committee for Art Basel during seven years and also participates in up to five international Arts Fairs annually. The gallery has partnerships with the estates of Louise Bourgeois, Willem de Kooning, Robert Mapplethorpe and Alice Neel.
Saâdane AfifFA.0113 Torn out page from book, magazine or other written document, framed
David AltmejdUntitled 14 (Guides) Wood, mirror, acrylic paint
Evan HollowayMonkey Palace, 2017 Bronze, oil enamel
Katherine BernhardtButterfly Bird Kiss, 2018 Acrylic and spray paint on canvas
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 Report Art Exhibitions to See: Shanghai Lowdown 2 Nov 2018 : Sam Gaskin for Ocula There is no official Shanghai Art Week, but the term has nevertheless entered the lexicon of the city's contemporary art community. It's especially apt this year, with the firmly established West Bund Art Fair (8–11 November 2018) and Art021 (9–11 November 2018) taking place the same week that the 12th Shanghai Biennale opens at the Power Station...
Ocula Photolog FIAC Paris 2018 19 October 2018 'For the 2018 selection, held in Paris from 18 to 21 October, FIAC brought together 195 galleries from 27 countries in the nave and exhibition rooms of the Grand Palais. The fair presented the finest examples of artistic creation since the turn of the twentieth century; modern masters through to the latest trends, notably represented in the...
Ocula Photolog Frieze London 2018 8 October 2018 'Frieze London 2018 showcases the best of international contemporary art, with a discerning selection of around 160 galleries presenting their most forward-thinking artists and imaginative presentations. Opening for the first time with a two-day preview, Frieze London coincides with Frieze Sculpture and Frieze Masters in The Regent's Park, together...
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 Making the Transformative Power of Words Concrete Hyperallergic : 3 July 2018 There is something utterly majestic about block letters — even more so at a staggering height of 12 feet. Such is the case of the letters 'IM' in the painting "Invisible Man (after Ralph Ellison)" (2008) by Tim Rollins & K.O.S.
Related Press Malcolm Morley, the first artist to win the Turner Prize, has died aged 86 The Art Newspaper : 4 June 2018 The London-born artist Malcolm Morley, known for his innovations in photorealist and neo-expressionist art, has died aged 86. Xavier Hufkens gallery in Brussels, one of the galleries that represent him, says in a statement: 'He defied stylistic characterisation, moving through so-called abstract, hyperrealist, neo-romantic, and neo-expressionist...
Related Press Reconsidering the Political Detachment of Eggleston’s Images Hyperallergic : 10 May 2018 Los Alamos, a set of William Eggleston's colour photographs developed from negatives made between 1965 and 1974, reminds me of the tagline from the 1969 film Easy Rider: 'A man went looking for America, and couldn't find it anywhere...' The Metropolitan Museum of Art's introductory wall text notes that the exhibition's images were taken on a series...
Related Video & Audio Sterling Ruby in conversation with Anders Kold Xavier Hufkens : 6 November 2018 Ruby's DRFTRS and WIDW series are two ever-evolving bodies of work that bear witness to the artist's intense relationship with materials and his interest in issues such as sociocultural evolution, popular culture, and violence.
Related Video & Audio George Condo The Artist at Work Louisiana Channel : 14 December 2017 The mind of American artist George Condo has been referred to as a place where 'Picasso meets Looney Tunes.' Watch him at work in his New York-studio where he draws and paints his take on a 19th-century painting by Manet.
Related Video & Audio George Condo Interview: The Way I Think Louisiana Channel : 2 November 2017 'I kind of draw like you’re walking through the forest, where you don’t really know where you’re going, and you just start from some point and randomly travel through the paper until you get to a place where you finally reach your destination.' Condo studied music theory at college, but soon realised that it was too formal and rigid for him, and...
Related Video & Audio Josh Smith Xavier Hufkens : 26 May 2016 Xavier Hufkens is delighted to present American artist Josh Smith’s first exhibition at the gallery.Josh Smith is known for an oeuvre that is as diverse as it is distinctive. Encompassing oils, drawings, prints, posters, artist books and sculptures, some of which are representational, others of which are abstract, Smith’s output...
