The STAM Ghent city museum invited me as one of 4 artist to come and make a mural with tape. Visitors could get some tape and give it a try on a separate wall. My wall piece ended up 6 meters long and connected to the work of the other artists, for a total of 24 meters of mural!
Check the pictures for the process and the end result above.
(pictures by Michiel De Vyver & Phile Deprez)
I'm very excited to announce we have started the production on Construction III, the latest installment to the Construction Series.
Following the Construction Series' rules, number III consists of an original architectural structure and a technical drawing, and will be executed in it's unique stone. We've chosen the gorgeous Travertine Silver, an Italian natural stone used since the beginning of architecture as a building material. It comes in a range of colors ranging from white to red, always marked by sedimentary lines and pitted holed on the surface. Ours will be the color Silver, a richly shaded warm grey.
For the first time, the construction will be 100% load bearing. Construction I and II had an internal volume in plywood to reduce cost and weight. Construction III will be built fully in stone cubes in a vaulted construction, a technique comparable to a roman arch bridge. Two openings in the sides of the construction and an oculus in the roof will provide a view into the structure's internal architecture.
The finished construction - consisting of 540 pieces - will measure 1m20 in height, but will be presented on a higher made-to-measure plinth.
The Dhondt-Dhaenens museum celebrated its tenth annual garden party. Each year, they organize a charity auction to fund their own operation. This year, Christie's was responsible for the auction of a large number of works of art, donated by artists, galleries and collectors. Besides a number of established artists, there was also a selection of 30 young artist, who were nominated by art world insiders.
I was nominated by Monia Warnez, a Belgian "young collector" and co-owner of the Fotorama fine art prints studio.
For the young artists auction, I donated "Study No.10, drawing included".
This was the first time I presented one of the clay studies as a work. I'd included an original drawing, meant to be presented together.
The party and auction were an incredible succes, fetching over 200.000 euros for the museum's operation.
"Study No.10" performed very well, with bidding ending up 50% higher than its estimate.
Tryptic is a dialogue piece between my parents and myself. My father has studied graphic design, but worked as a travel agent his entire career and has recently retired. My mother is a philosophy professor and author, but started making drawings in her late forties. They have been divorced for over 20 years.
After finding some old drawings from my father on the attic, I recognized my own way of working in them, using pen and ink, patience and hard work. My mothers work has the same qualities but with a very different result. I decided to try and make a work combining all three.
I cut 3 pieces of paper in the same size, made a drawing on the first and asked my father and mother to each respond to my work on their own piece of paper. On the left is my father's response, on the right my mother's.
Because of the very intimate nature of the work and its unique position within my oeuvre, I had decided in advance never to sell it.
After a couple of serious enquiries from prospective buyers specifically for this work, we have agreed to make a limited number of prints available. This museum quality reproduction (Printed by Fotorama Fine Art) uses light and colorfast ink on acid free paper. The three pieces of the tryptic will each be framed separately in an acid free oak frame. Only ten prints will be made, each signed an numbered.
Size: 58cm x 35cm x 2cm
For inquiries, please email conradwillems@wambach.be
I am very proud to announce that Construction II will be shown at Katoen Natie HeadquARTers during the Museumnacht Antwerpen.
HeadquARTers selected this work through a competition with 500 entries, 60 of which aiming for this location. Construction II will be displayed solo for a full week.
As a performance, I will be installing the construction between 7 and 10 pm on the 6th of August.
Don't forget to swing by on your Museumnacht tour!
When we produced Construction I in white sandstone, the manufacturer made 41 cubes more than necessary.
These 41 cubes are not needed for the construction itself and were left untouched in my studio for many months. As I am unable to refrain myself from making constructions with anything I can lay my hands on, I started making a series of drawings based on the varying constructions I could make using these 41 cubes.
The rules are simple: each time I build a new construction using all 41 building blocks. After sketching, I then draw the four side views and superimpose a perspective drawing of the construction. I then carefully draw the lines for the background.
By early October, I should have 41 unique drawings of 41 the different constructions that have each only been made once and then destroyed again. Each drawing will be sold with one of the individual building blocks.
In October, I will present the work in full: a construction using all 41 building blocks and the 41 different drawings.
More information on this project will follow in September.
10 years ago I made a series of approximately 50 black and white photographs. I printed them myself, using a gelatine silver printing process. The photographs show different setups of my large Cubicles installation I started as an art student.
I still work with these Cubicles and each time I show them I produce more.
Recently I've been trying to work these photographs. Amongst the 50 photos I found this self portrait and started working on it with brush and ink. I'm not sure yet what these will become, but I will work on a couple of them to find out.
Hands can bear a broad scope of meanings. I use my hands to draw, to sculpt, to stack objects. More than anything, they are the tools I use to see and build my world.
While documenting Construction II, photographer Cedric Verhelst decided to take some pictures of my hands to give a sense of scale to the Belgian fossil building blocks, which range from 1,4 kg to 5 kg.
I am happy to present a limited edition of 5 photographs showing close-ups of Construction II. Each of the 5 photograph will be for sale in a limited edition of 5 prints each.
We are using the high quality Platinum Paladium printing proces, an amazing photography process which can really only be judged on the actual print. We've had ours printed by Manuel Gomes Teixeira, a specialist based in Aveiro, Portugal.
The photographs are made by Cedric Verhelst, a young and talented photographer from Ghent with whom I have worked before for documentation and process pictures.
Each of the photographs will be framed in a museum-quality frame with anti-reflecting glass. They will be signed and numbered in crayon in front and with ink on the back. Each photograph will be sold with a certificate signed by the artist and the photographer.
Process: Platinum Palladium Print
Paper: Arches Platine, 310g
Size: 30cm x 22,5cm
For inquiries, please email conradwillems@wambach.be
In November 2015, I took residence into a new and fantastic studio: a gorgeous 60-square-meter space with 5m-high ceilings, flooded with natural light. The space is the former principle's office of a disused Veterinary School which was empty for 20 years.
Nucleo is an organization seeking out spaces like this and turning them into temporary (1-5 years) artist studios. The gorgeous interbellum building by Ghent architect Valentin Vaerwyck now houses 17 individual studios and a large shared studio space, as well as an exhibition space.
