I don’t know about you but unlike most people I love Mondays. They are perfect for reminiscing about the weekend, and to plan your upcoming week with a refreshed mind. I spent Saturday and Sunday strolling in good company (we didn’t even mind the rain) around the city for the Brussels Art Days. This big event featuring most of the contemporary art galleries and museums marked the beginning of the new art season in the city. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of people the event gathered, but a bit disappointed by the lack of eclecticism among the crowd. Brussels remains a very bourgeoise capital, and event though the city count a big amount of alternative art venues, the diversity in the art scene is still not on point.
I saw and discovered some really amazing shows and artists such as Matthias Bitzer at Almine Rech Gallery, José Maria Sicilia wonderful textile pieces at Meessen De Clercq Gallery, Justin Morin at Jean Rochdard Gallery, Alighieri Boetti and Zoë Paul at the brand new space ATTIC, and of course one of my all times favorite Louise Bourgeois at Xavier Hufkens Gallery. I also absolutely enjoyed the Art Book Fair at the WIELS, they presented a wide rage of independent publishers all very passionate about their work and who took the time to explain their work approach and ethic.
My big disappointment of the weekend was Art On Paper at Bozar. I was expecting anything but that, first the fairly high price of the ticket (8 euros and you don’t even have access to any other exhibition with it), the location ( in the basement), the space (so small, warm and crowded), the presentation ( separate tiny booth like in an art fair, that made us think that the participating galleries have to also pay to be here), the quality (very unequal selection, I only liked Hell’O at Alice Gallery, Charlotte Beaudry at Yoko Uhoda Gallery, and Michael Kane at Rubicon Gallery), but mostly the very “commercial” oriented vibes. People were there to sell, and it is maybe my personal opinion but it always bother me when this happen inside of a museum or a Center for Fine Arts like Bozar. Art on Paper is a good concept but definitely need to be rethink for next year.
Well it was an OH SO artsy weekend, filled with laughers, brainstorming, discoveries, beauty, rain, design, chaï soya lattes, emotions, meetings, architecture, and art art art. Here is a visual diary of my highlights of the weekend.
Don’t forget to join me on Instagram at the_bubblist and on Snapchat at thebubblistarty. I’m updating the Facebook Page less lately as I found IG and Snapchat way more accurate, contemporary and fun to share with, but for those of you who don’t have the applications know that you can go on Instagram through the web and I will of course keep posting on Facebook.
Have ALL a wonderful week peeps!
Eva
