Every six months an artist is invited to do ‘something’ with the white wall in the beurscafé.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. That’s what happened when one of the brick café walls was covered with a slab of sound insulation in 2014. A white wall remained, a naked canvas, begging for attention. Every six months we offer a carte blanche to a different artist, who places a special emphasis on painting in their artistic practice. For most of the artists, it’s the first time they produce a work of this size and in this context. Between each intervention, the wall is painted white again, slowly increasing in size, by layers and layers of unique wall pieces, never to be seen again.
Artists that have participated in the past are: Jóhanna Kristbjörg, Sigur›ardóttur, Fiona Mackay, Julien Meert, Denie Put, Nel Aerts, Atelier Pica Pica, Michaël Van den Abeele and Céline Butaye.
In the spring of 2018, that artist will be Helgi Thórsson. Born in Iceland in 1975, he now lives in Antwerp. His predecessors in creating works for the wall are Jóhanna Kristbjörg Sigurðardóttur, Fiona Mackay, Julien Meert, Denie Put, Nel Aerts, Atelier Pica Pica, Michaël Van den Abeele and Céline Butaye.
Thórsson’s work is characterized by its raw, seemingly awkward finishing, a varnish of eccentric colours, bizarre humour, cheesy nostalgia and the righteous conviction that art can bring about something important in its viewers. Knowing this means that we can already anticipate the spring of 2018 as a colourful feast for the eye!
