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Thierry De Cordier

THIERRY DE CORDIER

Passe-montagne Xavier Hufkens 8 September–14 October 2023 St-Georges
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Press Release

Xavier Hufkens is honoured to present a new exhibition of works by Thierry De Cordier spanning the period from 1983 to today — none of which have previously been exhibited. The exhibition, nonetheless, is not intended to be a retrospective.

De Cordier might best be described as a non-academic thinker who makes things. His oeuvre includes, but is not limited to, photographs, drawings, placards, paintings, sculptures, assemblages and bricolage. These ‘objects’ and ‘non-objects’, as he calls them, can be viewed as representations of his thinking. They visualize his ideas and, as such, are illustrative of them. Simply put, his oeuvre is a philosophy expressed in images. De Cordier’s worldview leans heavily towards Albert Camus’ concept of Absurdism, which describes the futility of searching for significance in an incomprehensible universe, devoid of either God or meaning. In other words, people merely exist. Or, as De Cordier says: ‘Inutile, l’homme est là à être là inutilement...’ [Useless, man is there just being there uselessly...].

Thierry De Cordier (b. 1954, Ronse, Belgium) currently lives and works in Ostend, Belgium. A large room dedicated to his work was included in the exhibition The Encyclopaedic Palace at the Venice Biennale (2013). Solo exhibitions include Iconotextures at Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels (2016); Landschappen at BOZAR, Brussels (2012); and Drawings at the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2004-2005). He represented Belgium at the Venice Biennale in 1997.

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About the Artist

Thierry De Cordier is a philosopher, performer, sculptor, writer and poet. As a young artist, he lived a nomadic existence that caused him to reflect upon architecture as a model for social relations. For a long time, his garden was a substitute and a metaphor for the world. Later, he turned his back to the world to look at the sea. Thierry De Cordier is an existential artist who tries to understand the world through his own experience. His work is the result of a personal quest: a search for his own identity, his relationship to the world, and his role within society. His work, in which the infinitely small is reflected in the infinitely big, develops organically from his inner psyche. In the last few decades, Thierry De Cordier has dedicated himself to painting. Recurrent themes include mountains, seascapes and desolate landscapes that are partly inspired by the vast, black and white topographical paintings made in China during the 17th and 18th century, yet capture the essential qualities of the landscape and light of Northern Europe. The grey skies and ink black seas of his monochromatic paintings evoke melancholy, with the most dramatic scenes being those in which waves and mountainous cliffs fuse together to embody the forces of nature within a single primal image.

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Also Exhibiting at Xavier Hufkens

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Nicolas Party
NICOLAS PARTY Toile d’araignée Xavier Hufkens 21 May–25 July 2026 St-Georges
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JOAN SEMMEL Continuities Xavier Hufkens 22 April–27 June 2026 Rivoli
About the Gallery
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. A third space opened in spring 2020, located at 44 Rue Van Eyck, designed by architect Bernard Dubois.

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.
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Address
6 rue St-Georges
St-Jorisstraat
Brussels
Belgium
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Saturday
11am – 6pm
(1)
Brussels 6 rue St-Georges
Xavier Hufkens contemporary art gallery in St-Georges Brussels Belgium
Xavier Hufkens
6 rue St-Georges, St-Jorisstraat, Brussels, Belgium
+32 263 967 30
http://www.xavierhufkens.com

Opening hours
Tuesday – Saturday
11am – 6pm
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