Xavier Hufkens Announces Six-Storey Brussels Flagship

Rendering of 6 rue St-Georges, one of three exhibition spaces programmed by Xavier Hufkens in Brussels. Courtesy Xavier Hufkens.

By Sam Gaskin – 29 March 2022, Brussels

Xavier Hufkens contemporary art gallery in St-Georges Brussels Belgium

Xavier Hufkens Brussels Follow +

Xavier Hufkens will re-open its Brussels flagship on 2 June following expansions that almost tripled its exhibition space.

Belgian architecture firm Robbrecht & Daem led the two-year transformation of the 19th-century townhouse—which Hufkens moved into in 1992—to mark the gallery’s 35th anniversary.

The expanded space at 6 rue St-Georges comprises 2,200-square-metres spread over six storeys. It includes an outdoor exhibition garden, upgraded staff offices, a research library, art-storage facilities, and over 800 square metres of exhibition space.

Christopher Wool, Untitled (2017). Bronze and copper plated steel. 426.7 x 640.1 x 228.6 cm. Courtesy the Artist and Xavier Hufkens. Photo: Christopher Wool.

‘Every aspect of our new gallery stems from the vision to create an exceptional platform for our community of artists, many of whom made their start with us here in Brussels,’ said Xavier Hufkens.

Christopher Wool b. 1955, United States Follow +

‘In the 35 years since we opened our first gallery in a warehouse in the city centre, Brussels has flourished into a vibrant epicentre of contemporary art in Europe and internationally,’ he continued. ‘This is a cultural heritage and creative community to which we are proud to belong and deeply committed.’

A solo show by Chicago-born artist Christopher Wool, who is now based in New York and Marfa, will inaugurate the new space. The show will bring together sculptures, works on paper, photography, and books produced since 2018. It will also include the first new paintings to come out of the artist’s studio in five years.

‘Through more than fifty works, this exhibition explores how reproduction is at the heart of Christopher Wool’s practice,’ said the show’s curator Anne Pontégnie. ‘The new gallery’s scale and architecture offer the perfect setting to develop such a complex and dense project.’

Venus Over Manhattan Announces Second New York Space

Venus Over Manhattan’s new space at 55 Great Jones Street. Courtesy Venus Over Manhattan.

Another gallery that’s expanding is Venus Over Manhattan, which will open a second New York space in celebration of their 10th anniversary.

Their new 370-square-metre space is located at 55 Great Jones Street, beside a carriage house formerly owned by Andy Warhol and used as a studio by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The new gallery will open with an exhibition of muscular women paintings by Jersey City artist Ana Benaroya entitled Swept Away.

Ana Benaroya, By the Ocean’s Roar (2022). Image courtesy the artist and Venus Over Manhattan, New York.

Venus Over Manhattan will continue to show at their existing space on East 65th Street.

The gallery also announced the launch of Venus Digital, a division focused on commissioning and exhibiting digital art and NFTs.

Their first project is an exhibition by Art Blocks founder Erick Calderon, also known as Snowfro, in June. Snowfro is the artist behind the series of generative works called Chromie Squiggles.

Miles McEnery Adds Fourth Chelsea Gallery

Brian Alfred‘s painting of the new Miles McEnery Gallery space at 525 West 22nd Street. Courtesy the artist and Miles McEnery Gallery.

Miles McEnery Gallery announced the opening of a new gallery at 525 West 22nd Street next month, bringing their total Chelsea spaces to four. The inaugural exhibition in the new space, We Contain Multitudes, will be a two-person show by Alex Dodge and Tom LaDuke from April 28 to 4 June. —[O]