JEF GEYS
Retrospectieve-Introspectie
27 October 2007 - 25 October 2008
Tuesday to Saturday from 2 to 7 pm and by appointment

Room 4
Opening Thursday 15 May 2008 6-9 pm





Erna Hecey Gallery is pleased to present the fourth installment of a special yearlong project by renowned Belgian artist Jef Geys.

During a one-year period, Jef Geys will create a room in the basement of the gallery in which he will show a selection of old and new works. A “Retrospective-Introspection,” in the words of the artist, Geys’ “chambre” is conceived as a shifting solo exhibition, an opportunity to reflect on past productions while proposing and experimenting with new ideas. The room is approximately 3 x 4 meters with a door-sized opening, at the back of the space. Around every two months Geys will present a different arrangement of works.

Geys’s fourth “chambre” features his work using proper names.

“Geys was one of the first artists in the 1960’s not only to identify the artwork with a proper name, but to make of his own name a work—Jef Van Dijck, Marc Callewaert, Betty, Lola, Jef Sleeckx are all proper names which refer sometimes to works, sometimes to nothing other than the name itself. With this proliferation of proper names Jef Geys multiplies the ‘minor identities’ which are the very ‘material’ of his œuvre.”

From Marie-Ange Brayer, Du sujet aux identités nominées

Jef Geys is one of Belgium’s most esteemed artists. His art cannot be separated from his biography; he began keeping an index of his own work when he was thirteen years old. Since he appeared on the art scene at the beginning of the 1960s, Geys has conceived his entire oeuvre as an evolving project that combines a conceptual attitude, educational activity and formal experimentation. His work, in diverse media, deals with themes related to social, political and economic fields, and is especially marked by its anti-elitism and critical intelligence. He has exhibited in many important institutions around the world, including the IAC Villeurbanne (2007); Orchard Gallery, New York (2007), Pori Art Museum, Pori, Finland (2005); Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2004); Documenta 11, Kassel (2002); Le Collège-Frac Champagne-Ardenne (1995); Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (1992); and São Paulo Biennial (1991). He recently participated in the “Deep Comedy” show at Marfa, Texas (2007), curated by Dan Graham with Sylvia Chivaratanond.