23 Apr 2014

Distant Proximity at CENTRALE for contemoprary art, Brussels

An exhibition built around 'looking' offering an artists' vision of reality, urbanity, the fate of the world, reminiscences of the past ... as so many ways of 'being in the world.'

But 'distant proximity' also includes the position of the viewer with the assumption that what we see, looks back at us (Georges Didi-Huberman). It offers an introductory moment in the form of stereoscopic video Lauren Moffat (Fr) where the viewer, wearing three-dimensional glasses is transported through the eyes of a woman provided with a mask that isolates her from any possible ambient visual assault (surveillance cameras, ...). The mask itself is equipped with a camera that provides the viewer the projected 3 D image on the screen together with the comments of the protagonist. The mask-camera is placed in an alcove of the installation space itself. This way it looks and films the scene of those who indulge in the discovery of this paranoia of the Inquisition.

This intense face to face which links the work to the person who experiences it, attaches itself to the aura of the work itself, to the extent that 'what we see before us always looks inside' (Walter Benjamin).
The exhibition which brings together works of Belgian and international artists with media as diverse as a stereoscopic video installation, photographs of imaginary cities and desert places, sculptures made of dust, ... responds to an intuitive structure, a search for subjective reality, both near and distant.

ACM – Peter Buggenhout – Jeroen Hollander – Michel Mazzoni – Nicolas Moulin – Lauren Moffatt – Françoise Schein – Valérie Sonnier -Wilmes & Mascaux

CENTRALE for contemporary art

The identity of the contemporary art centre of the City of Brussels (formerly The Centrale électrique [Power Station], with reference to the primary function of the semi-industrial building that houses it), is defined around the link between art and society. It situates itself as much in contrast to as complementarity to the other centres presenting contemporary art in Brussels. Its identity unfolds in terms of development, questioning and support of contemporary creation in the city of Brussels, from an international perspective; it determines the role of a contemporary art centre in a multicultural city .

Its program based on the visual arts aims at making culture accessible to all, in order to get rid of the elitist image of contemporary art. The inclusion of artists on the fringes of the official art circuits, openness to cultural minorities, presenting works that challenge the limits of art rather than imposing a single reading of creation, contribute to achieve this goal.

The CENTRALE enjoys a privileged location in the centre of the city, in a cosmopolitan area, mirroring trends and cultural diversity: a central geographical position at the crossroads of cultural and economic poles in Brussels.