Third episode: Hedwig Houben
09.03.17 – 7:30pm
The Good, the Bad, the Happy, the Sad
Hedwig Houben’s performance presentations take as a starting point the presentation of sculptures produced in plasticine. The evolving nature of this unique material refers to the processual dimension of her proposals. Over the course of her works, different objects, motifs and characters (like the Pyramid, the Foot, the Host, etc.) appear and reappear. They comprise her vocabulary, her work ‘tools’.
The Good, the Bad, the Happy, the Sad (2014) evokes the world of a collector’s living room and features two sculptures, ‘The Good’ and ‘The Bad’. They converse amongst themselves and question their nature, their transition from the artist’s studio to their owner’s private domain. With this particular format, hinging on a precise script, the forms are part of a narrative and dynamic process with a humorous and witty tone. Wishing to engage collaborators in her pieces, Hedwig Houben hands over the development of the performance to the collector Joseph Kouli.
Hedwig Houben was born in the Netherlands in 1983. She lives and works in Brussels (Belgium). Galerie Fons Welters (Amsterdam) represents her.
L’Homme aux cent yeux (revue)
Last october, frac île-de-france launched a new event: L’Homme aux cent yeux.
This new review (revue) – in a nod to its glorious ancestors of the 30s and to the spirit of the Music Hall – proposes an annual programme of live interventions, open to all kinds of artistic creation (acoustic, filmic, choreographic, etc.), by artists invited to occupy the exhibition spaces in two phases. The first will consist in evening events during the ongoing exhibitions, with a performative play specially created by an artist for each occasion. The second will take place once during the year, in between exhibitions, when the spaces are empty and awaiting the next installation. For this event – the acme of the review (revue) – all the invited artists will gather and propose a follow-up to their first intervention. These two forms of intervention will enable the invited artists to experiment with new pieces in different contexts and in direct relationship with the public.
* L’Homme aux cent yeux (revue) is a reference to Argus, the all-seeing giant in Greek mythology with a tragic – and beautiful – destiny.