Brussels: contemporary art and popular culture

Works by J. Louis AGAIN, Vincen BEECKMAN, Bernard BOCCARA, Jacques BREL, Marcel BROODTHAERS, Benoît de PIERPONT, Lucien DE ROECK, Marc DIDDEN, Lise DUCLAUX, Frédéric ETIENNE, EVER MEULEN, Christoph FINK, GAL, Pieter GEENEN, Kendell GEERS, Franz GSELLMANN, Jean HARLEZ, Fernand HELLINCKX, Gillis HOUBEN, Frédéric JANNIN & Stefan LIBERSKI (les SNULS), KROLL, Thomas LEROOY, MAREC, Johan MUYLE, Charlemagne PALESTINE, Marie-Françoise PLISSART, Elvis POMPILIO, Jean-Pierre ROSTENNE, Kurt RYSLAVY, François SCHUITEN, STIKSTOF, STROMAE, Pascal TASSINI, Toots THIELEMANS, TOONE, Geert van BRUAENE (le petit Gérard).

Commission: Carine Fol - Artistic Director for CENTRALE for contemporary art in Brussels

The exhibition channels the spirit of Brussels in a selection of works by artists living in the city, but also through references to its folklore.

It sketches a subjective portrait of Brussels - a cosmopolitan, surreal and joyful melting pot - in a meeting of contemporary art and popular culture. It upends usual distinctions between “high” and “low” culture, between the norm and the margins.

A great variety of works are presented, from a “world machine” inspired by the Atomium (Franz Gsellmann), to an installation giving form to the emergence of environmental awareness (Lise Duclaux), through spectacular and polymorphic installations (Charlemagne Palestine, Kendell Geers), and photographs which are so close to us that they transcend the boundaries between art and life (Vincen Beeckman, Kurt Ryslavy).

The exhibition offers a narrative in which perspectives clash, while humour and sobriety converse. It is an invitation to savour the diversity and singularity of this bilingual city, whose emblem is Manneken-Pis, the cheeky young urinating boy, a whimsical embodiment of “joie de vivre”! This is, after all, a city of contrasts, which never stops questioning the limits of what should be taken seriously, and delights as much as it frustrates.

Exhibition presented by the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles in Paris in partnership with CENTRALE for contemporary art. With the support of L’Échevinat de la Culture de la Ville de Bruxelles. With the support of the Commission communautaire française (COCOF).

This exhibition is an adaptation of the “BXL Universel” exhibition which was commissioned to celebrate the tenth birthday of CENTRALE for contemporary art (an art centre set up by the city of Brussels in an old electric power station).

Ticket prices:

• €5
• €3 concessionary rate (students, retired, groups of 10 or more, unemployed)
• Free to children under 12 and Friends of the Centre

Exhibition open Monday to Friday, 9 am to 7 pm and Saturday / Sunday, 11 am to 7 pm.