LUMIAR CITÉ

Willem Oorebeek
Obstakles
17.12.2022 – 19.03.2023
extended until 26.03.2023

Info
Press-Release (port)
Press-Release (eng)
Exhibition View

17.12 | 17h00 Talk with Willem Oorebeek, Arne Kaiser and Jürgen Bock
17.12 | 18h00 Opening of the exhibition

Willem Oorebeek, Obstakle, 2022, vinyl on glass

Willem Oorebeek’s practice is rooted in an in-depth investigation of typefaces, texts and images in print media, and manifests itself in carefully developed artworks, installations and exhibitions. Through his distinctive modus operandi, Oorebeek has achieved a unique position in the international universe of contemporary art.

In his solo exhibition at Lumiar Cité, Willem Oorebeek presents a set of works carefully chosen or produced considering the specific conditions of the exhibition space. Oorebeek’s interventions unfold around slogans, popular print aesthetics and political communication with works presented inside the gallery, on its large glass façade and in the surrounding area.

While the gallery’s glass façade presents a large-scale vinyl advertising a famous political statement visually, while its content is absurdly inverted, the multiple prints inside invite a close scrutiny of the conditions of the portrayed and the aesthetic issues that the communicative structures of election posters evoke. They also draw attention to the design decisions regarding the use of typefaces and images to achieve specific goals, which remind us of how communicative structures are understood and applied by producers who wrap (political) messages in such a way they are instantly decipherable. In current times of an apparent addiction to information the recognisability of a specific genre – be it political campaigns, edited press releases or exhibition invitation cards – seems to be crucial for what is considered efficient communication. Art, and some forms of advertising, allow for or knowingly apply what could be detours, leading to deferred understandings of the messages conveyed. Other areas cannot afford such detours, as their messages need to be understood immediately, which is the eternal modern problem of attempting to overcome the inherent ambiguity of language and signs.

We incessantly produce pictures in our here and now, of our worlds, but to which extent do these in turn construct our worlds? Through elaborate processes of repetition and superimposition, Oorebeek speculates on the position of the portrait in art history, making visible power dynamics and means by which these are communicated. Also visible is the voluntary vulnerability of the portrayed, who find themselves in front of a camera in multiple ways: how they are, how they want to be perceived and how the photographer and designer perceives them.

Willem Oorebeek (Pernis, The Netherlands, 1953) lives and works in Brussels. In 1997, he represented The Netherlands at the 47th Venice Biennale alongside Aernout Mik. Notable numerous solo exhibitions include those at Greylight Projects (Heerlen, 2020), Sundogs (Paris, 2018), Yale Union (Portland, 2015), Museum Boijmans van Beuningen (Rotterdam, 2015, 1996-1999, 1988), Culturgest (Lisbon, 2008) and Stedelijk Museum (Ghent, 2006). His work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies (Barcelona), Generali Foundation (Vienna), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof (Hamburg), Kunstverein Düsseldorf, Midway Contemporary Art (Minneapolis), Triennale India (New Delhi), Taipei Bienial and Witte de With (Rotterdam).