15 Nov 2010

Certified Copy at Verbeke Foundation

CERTIFIED COPY

1989. The American Fluxus artist Larry Miller distributes certificates to allow anyone to decide on the use, or not, of their DNA. The action, which relates the art scene to contemporary biotechnological problems, would precede the birth of Dolly, the first cloned mammal in the world, by a decade.

In a world where numerous multinationals multiply data banks destined to the patented reproduction of genetical information, the Verbeke Foundation organises an exhibition on the notions of copying and cloning. Certified Copy unites the works of over twenty international contempary artists who are concerned in the question of the reproduction of living and lifeless materials.

From delftware from the museum of Leiden over the masterpieces of Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami or Maurizio Cattelan, to fluorescent transgenic fishes, all presented works give the possibility to draw a parallel between both contemporary artistic and scientific practices. The letters of the Coco Chanel logo on the exhibition poster also evoke daily counterfeited products, and the expressions of Certified Copy, Carbon Copy and Creative Commons. In fact, the exhibition adopts a critical viewpoint on the motivations for reproducing works and living organisms, and on the stipulations of this reproduction in our globalised, industrial and capitalistic society.

ARTISTS

Art Orienté objet (FR), Cristian Bors & Marius Ritiu (RO), Adam Brandejs (CA), Stijn Belle (NL), Ondrej Brody (CZ) & Kristofer Paetau (FI), Leo Copers (BE), Paul Cornelis (NL), Hugo Draulans (BE), Constant Dullaart (NL), Janieta Eyre (CA), Andrea Fraser (US), Bram Geers (NL), Ni Haifeng (CN), Mateusz Herczka (SE), Theo Jansen (NL), Natalie Jeremijenko (US), Eduardo Kac (BR), Thomas Lommée (BE), L.A. Raeven (NL), Joachim Rotteveel (NL), Louis Sassoye, Marie-Paule Wilbert & Cie (BE), Ad Schouten (NL), Lieven Standaert (BE), Martin uit den Bogaard (NL), Maarten Vanden Eynde (BE), Jason van der Woude (NL), Koen Vanmechelen (BE), Jonas Vansteenkiste (BE), Erik Verboven (BE), Alexandra Verhaest (BE), Adam Zaretsky (US)

VERBEKE FOUNDATION

The Verbeke Foundation, founded by art collectors Geert and Carla Verbeke-Lens, is a private art site which first opened doors to the general public on June 1st of 2007.. With 12 hectares of scenic area and 20,000 m² covered spaces, the Foundation is one of the largest private initiatives for contemporary art throughout Europe. The warehouses of the former Verbeke transport agency were transformed into unique exposition halls. One of the buildings was furnished to exhibit Verbeke's extraordinary collection of collages and assemblages. The Verbeke Foundation is subject to a continuous growth process. Artists have the ability to reside, larger and smaller exhibitions relieve each other.

'Our exhibition space does not aim to be an oasis. Our presentation is unfinished, in motion, unpolished, contradictory, untidy, complex, inharmonious, living and unmonumental, like the world outside of the museum walls. You will find no flamboyant sensational buildings here, but rather, a refreshing, unpretentious place to look at art and a subtle criticism of the art world'. Geert Verbeke