In ‘The Conversation’ Hans Op de Beeck’s 5th solo exhibition at Galerie Krinzinger, the artist brings together new sculpted characters, which evince a great sense of recognisability and everydayness in their pose and appearance.

**Hans Op de Beeck: The Conversation at Galerie Krinzinger. Images courtesy of Galerie Krinzinger.**

Hans Op de Beeck started to sculpt the human figure a few years ago, in addition to creating large and immersive sculptural installations, video works, two-dimensional work, theatre and opera work.

The eponymous work The Conversation shows two older men with having a conversation with each other. For some reason they are both standing on a small folding ladder while their briefcases are placed on the floor, which suggests that they are both either coming from work, or on their way to it. We can only guess as to what they are talking about. The Cliff (wall piece) presents a teenage couple sitting on a rock. The surrounding landscape is left to the imagination. Resigned, and with her eyes closed, Dancer is smoking a cigarette. Her exuberant clothing, with an impressive crown of plumes, contrasts sharply with the performer who is not performing and is taking a quiet moment for herself. All figures are somehow caught in a quiet or solitary moment or in a state of dream or play.

My bed a raft, the room the sea, and then I laughed some gloom in me (small version) is a scaled-down version of the eponymous large-scale work. A girl lies asleep on her back in a bed with an open book on her stomach. Next to the bed, there are more books, a glass of water and sleeping pills. Her mattress floats above a wooden raft that floats on a dark body of water amongst cane stalks and water lilies. It is as if she is moving from her dream world to the raft on the water. Home presents an elderly couple in nightwear in front of the facade of a common rowhouse. They have left the cocoon of their living room, the door is ajar, the shutters have been lowered. It seems as if they have taken to the street in the nightly hours, to see what is going on. Timo (small version) is a sculpture of a boy, barefoot and bare- chested, ready to shoot a toy arrow from a bow. His eyes are closed, as if he were, for a moment, deeply breathing through the nose, concentrating on shooting. Brian (small version) is a sculpture of a bald boy sitting cross-legged, holding a glass ball in both hands, he seems to be residing elsewhere, as in a moment of deep meditation.

He is currently also exhibiting his solo show “ The Cliff” at the Kunsthalle Krems, Austria (March 03 – June 23, 2019)

Hans Op de Beeck born 1969 in Turnhout, lives and works in Brussels, Belgium
exhibitions at Galerie Krinzinger: “ICON – Ideal.Idee.Inspiration, Galerie Krinzinger, gorup (2017), ‘Hans Op de Beeck: Silent Rooms’, Galerie Krinzinger, solo (2016), ‘Hans Op de Beeck: The Thread’ (Filmscreening), Galerie Krinzinger, (2015), ‘Hans Op de Beeck: Small Constructions’, Galerie Krinzinger, solo (2012), ‘Hans Op de Beeck: Paradigms’, (‘curated by’, Vienna ‘09) Galerie Krinzinger, solo (2009), ‘Hans Op de Beeck: Tables…’, Galerie Krinzinger, solo (2006);

selection of solo exhibitions: Kunsthalle Krems (2019), KMSK Brussels (2019), Sheepvaartmuseum Amsterdam, NL (2018), Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, GER (2017), Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, GER (2017), Folkwangmuseum, Essen, GER (2015), Sammlung Goetz, Munich, GER (2014), MOCA Cleveland, OH, US (2014), MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, Boston MA, US (2014), FRAC Paca, Marseille, F (2013), the Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL, USA (2013), Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, USA (2013), Kunstverein Hannover, D (2012), Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, IRL (2012), Centro de Arte Caja de Burgos, Burgos, ES (2010), Kunstmuseum Thun, CH (2010), the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, US (2010), Centraal Museum, Utrecht, NL (2007), MUHKA Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerpen, B (2006), GEM Museum for contemporary art, Den Haag, NL (2004)

selection of group exhibitions: Art Unlimited, Basel, The Reina Sofia, Madrid, ES; the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, AZ, US; the Towada Art Center, Towada, JP; ZKM, Karlsruhe, DE; MACRO, Rome, IT; the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, GB; PS1, New York, NY, US; Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR; Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Köln, DE; Hangar Bicocca, Milano, IT; the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, JP; 21C Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, US; The Drawing Center, New York, NY, US; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, AT; Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, CN; MAMBA, Buenos Aires, AR; Haus der Kunst, Munich, DE; Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, Bologna, IT; Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn DE.Teilnahmen an: Biennale, Venedig, IT; die Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, CN; die Aichi Triennale, Aichi, JP; die Biennale in Singapur, SG; Art Summer University, Tate Modern, London, GB; die Biennale in, IN, …theater and opera productions: Das Floss der Medusa, Hans Werner Henze, Ruhrtriennale, Dinslaken,Germany. Opera directed by Hans Op de Beeck (2018), 2, 4, 9 & 11 November, Bluebeard’s Castle, Béla Bartòk, Opera Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany. Opera directed by Hans Op de Beeck, prelude written by Hans Op de Beeck (2018), Title tbc’, Text, director, stage design, costumes for Het paleis, Antwerpen (BE), premiere 12 November 2016. (2016), ‘Nach dem Fest’, Text, director, stage design and costumes for Schauspiel Frankfurt (DE), premiere 19 September 2015. (2015), ‘Trauerzeit’, Stage design by Hans Op de Beeck, concept and stage direction by Johan Leysen, composition and musical direction by Dominique Pauwels, produced by Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, C.I.C.T. (LU) and Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Paris (FR), (2013), ‘Orphée et Eurydice’ (Glück), Stage design, images and costumes by Hans Op de Beeck, directed by Frédéric Flamand, produced by le Ballet National de Marseille et l’Opéra de Saint-Etienne (FR), (2012), ‘Book Burning’, Main concept, stage design and sculptural work, in collaboration with author/actor Pieter De Buysser, produced by Margarita Production, Brussels (BE), (2012), ‘Happy End’, Animation film for the contemporary opera composed by Georges Aperghis, a production inspired by Charles Perrault’s tale Le Petit Poucet, in collaboration with Bruno Hardt, Klaas Verpoest, produced by Ictus, Brussels (BE), (2007), ‘VOID’, Stage design and video works for the contemporary opera by Wim Henderickx, directed by Wouter Van Looy, produced by Muziektheater Transparant, Antwerp (BE), (2007), ‘Sestina’, Stage design and video works for the musical theatre production with work by Claudio Monteverdi, directed by Wouter Van Looy, produced by Muziektheater Transparant, Antwerp (BE) (2006)

He is currently also exhibiting his solo show “ The Cliff” at the Kunsthalle Krems, Austria (March 03 – June 23, 2019)

Writing via press release and photographs courtesy Galerie Krinzinger and the artist.

Photos by Tamara Rametsteiner

The sculptures are not intended as portraits of specific people, but seek to speak in a small and unspectacular way of our dealings with others, the world, moments in our lives and feelings. The artist does this with great empathy, sometimes with mild irony, slight absurdity or in a somewhat surreal manner.