The Fountain Show
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David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 
David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan, Zoe Williams, 

  • Vernissage

    11.mei.24, 18:30

  • Curators

    • Brenda Guesnet

    • Fountains control the movement and cycle of water. We are surrounded by mundane structures that move water, often hidden from sight: pumps, pipes and sewage systems. By contrast, a fountain is visible and exuberant: it can stimulate, delight, and stir the erotic. In this exhibition, the fountain becomes a space to transform dreams and desires into a dripping, spattering, sparkling form.

    Fountains control the movement and cycle of water. We are surrounded by mundane structures that move water, often hidden from sight: pumps, pipes and sewage systems. By contrast, a fountain is visible and exuberant: it can stimulate, delight, and stir the erotic. In this exhibition, the fountain becomes a space to transform dreams and desires into a dripping, spattering, sparkling form.

    Fountains have given people pleasure since ancient times, across civilisations and cultures. The Ancient Romans venerated water and delighted in its appearance and its movement through an unseen power. The Persian rulers of the Middle Ages built elaborate fountains in their palaces and gardens to represent paradise as described in the Qu’ran. King Louis XIV of France employed fountains at Versailles as a visual representation of his dominance over nature. In the 19th century, fountains became part of civic infrastructures, providing clean drinking water to urban populations and thereby becoming important meeting places – akin to the contemporary cliché of the office water cooler where news and gossip is spread. Today, fountains mostly serve a decorative purpose, but remain in public spaces and private gardens.

    The fountain as an artistic object

    “The Fountain Show” looks at the fountain as an artistic object. In 1917, Marcel Duchamp’s created the most famous ‘fountain’ in Western art history, the readymade urinal (1917). The work, simply titled Fountain, played with the art historical symbolism of the decorative fountain and overturned previous ideas of what makes art. The works gathered in this exhibition stand in a long line of fountains that have been depicted or designed by artists and asks what the fountain stands for today.

    About the curator: Brenda Guesnet

    Brenda Guesnet (Bad Soden am Taunus, DE, 1993) works as curator and deputy director of IKOB – Museum of Contemporary Art in Eupen. Before she worked in the artist liaison department at White Cube and as a curatorial assistant at Tenderpixel Gallery, both in London.

    With support of

    The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Hotel De 3 Paardekens and Pro Helvetica.

    Thanks to

    Liam Tickner and Francesca von Zedtwitz-Arnim from London’s gallery Sundy, who organized the first “Fountain Show” in 2019, the starting point for this exhibition.

    • Date

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    • Artists

      • David Bernstein
      • Aline Bouvy
      • Anita Esfandiari
      • Kasia Fudakowski
      • Lou Masduraud
      • Sophie Nys
      • Chloé Op de Beeck
      • Virginia Overton
      • Paula Siebra
      • Jay Tan
      • Zoe Williams

    • Brochure

      Download brochure

    • Adress

      De Garage
      Onder-Den-Toren 12,
      2800 Mechelen