{"id":944,"title":"Jos de Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys – Optimundus","date_begin":"2013-02-07T00:00:00.000+01:00","date_end":"2013-05-19T00:00:00.000+02:00","location":{"readable":"Antwerpen","latitude":null,"longitude":null},"assets":{"poster":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/mhka_ensembles_production/assets/public/000/012/982/large/H_J_OPTIMUNDUS_A6_liggend.jpg?1360243760","poster_credits":null},"translations":[{"locale":"en","name":"Jos de Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys – Optimundus","short_description":"","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eOPTIMUNDUS\u003c/i\u003e gave a panoramic overview of the artistic practice of \u003cstrong\u003eJos de Gruyter\u003c/strong\u003e (°1965, Geel) \u0026amp; \u003cstrong\u003eHarald Thys\u003c/strong\u003e (°1966, Wilrijk), and thus brought their unique take on an alternative reality into the arena of an exhibition. The exhibition moved to the Vienna Kunsthalle in early 2014.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe work of de Gruyter and Thys takes a merciless look at reality. By means of videos, installations, drawings, sculptures, performances and photography, the artists convey their interpretation of a parallel world, how it is integrated in the contemporary human psyche and how it manifests itself in everyday life and social conformism. Stories about work, leisure, family, social class, masculinity and marginalization are represented by a cast of non-professional actors, relatives, friends, beards, objects and puppets, often in banal interiors, weighed down by an impaired balance of power.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe work draws on diverse sources of inspiration, ranging from certain key scenes in the films by Fassbinder and Visconti, clandestine reality shows, through to the ever-expanding arsenal of anonymously produced films on YouTube, from \u003ci\u003eRussian Road Rage\u003c/i\u003e to home videos of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe films of de Gruyter and Thys often take place within mental spaces where interpersonal tensions build up and where a distinct sadness in the heart of the exceptional social imagination of both artists is palpable. Yet, the works not only reflect on the major issues of social class and deprivation, they are also obsessive observations of inner processes. The work of de Gruyter and Thys reminds us of an internal logic that is difficult to define that lives within each of us, and which was central in \u003ci\u003eOPTIMUNDUS\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"locale":"nl","name":"Jos de Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys – Optimundus","short_description":"","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eOPTIMUNDUS\u003c/i\u003e\u0026nbsp;vormde een panorama van de kunstpraktijk van \u003cstrong\u003eJos de Gruyter\u003c/strong\u003e (°1965, Geel) \u0026amp; \u003cstrong\u003eHarald Thys \u003c/strong\u003e(°1966, Wilrijk), en bracht zo hun unieke voorstelling van een alternatieve realiteit in een tentoonstellingsomgeving. De tentoonstelling kreeg in het begin van 2014 een vervolg in Kunsthalle Wien.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHet werk van de Gruyter \u0026amp; Thys werpt een genadeloze blik op de realiteit. Aan de hand van video’s, installaties, tekeningen, sculpturen, performances en fotografie geven de kunstenaars gestalte aan hun verbeelding van een parallelle wereld, hoe die leeft in de hedendaagse menselijke psyche en hoe die zich manifesteert in het alledaagse en in maatschappelijk conformisme. Verhalen rond arbeid, vrije tijd, gezin, sociale klasse, mannelijkheid en marginalisering worden verbeeld door een cast van niet-professionele acteurs, familieleden, vrienden, baarden, objecten en poppen, vaak in banale interieurs, geladen met gestoorde machtsverhoudingen.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHet werk vindt haar oorsprong in zeer uiteenlopende inspiratiebronnen, gaande van bepaalde sleutelscènes in de films van Fassbinder en Visconti, over clandestiene reality-programma’s, het alsmaar groeiende arsenaal van anoniem geproduceerde films op YouTube – van \u003ci\u003eRussian Road Rage\u003c/i\u003e tot de home video’s van de Tsjetsjeense president Ramzan Kadyrov.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDe films van de Gruyter \u0026amp; Thys spelen zich vaak af binnen mentale ruimten waar intermenselijke spanningen zich opbouwen en waar een uitgesproken somberheid in het hart van de uitzonderlijke maatschappelijke verbeelding van beide kunstenaars voelbaar is. Toch bezinnen de werken niet enkel over de grote vraagstukken van sociale klasse en ontbering, maar zijn ze tevens obsessieve observaties van innerlijke processen. Het werk van de Gruyter \u0026amp; Thys herinnert ons aan een interne, moeilijk te definiëren logica die binnen ieder van ons leeft, en die centraal stond in\u0026nbsp;\u003ci\u003eOPTIMUNDUS\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"locale":"fr","name":"Jos de Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys – Optimundus","short_description":"","description":"\u003cp\u003eCommissaire de l’exposition: Nav Haq\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eOPTIMUNDUS\u003c/i\u003e\u0026nbsp;a formé un panorama de la pratique artistique de \u003cstrong\u003eJos de Gruyter\u003c/strong\u003e (°1965, Geel) \u0026amp; \u003cstrong\u003eHarald Thys \u003c/strong\u003e(°1966, Wilrijk), et ainsi elle a présenté d’une manière unique une réalité alternative dans un environnement d’exposition. Au début de 2014, l’exposition a connu une suite à la Kunsthalle Wien.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eL’oeuvre de De Gruyter \u0026amp; Thys porte un regard impitoyable sur la réalité. Par le biais de vidéos, installations, dessins, sculptures, performances et photographie, les artistes donnent corps à leur imagination d’un monde parallèle, à la manière dont celui-ci vit dans la psyché humaine contemporaine et se manifeste dans la vie quotidienne et le conformisme social. Des histoires de travail, de loisirs, de famille, de la classe sociale, la virilité et la marginalisation sont représentées par un groupe d’acteurs non professionnels, composée de membres de la famille, d’amis, de barbes, d’objets et de marionnettes, souvent dans des intérieurs banals, chargés de rapports de force troublés.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eL’œuvre s’inspire de sources très diverses, allant de certaines scènes-clés des films de Fassbinder et de Visconti, à des émissions de téléréalité clandestines, en passant par l’arsenal intarissable de films produits anonymement et postés sur YouTube – de \u003ci\u003eRussian Road Rage\u003c/i\u003e à des vidéos amateurs du président tchétchène Ramzan Kadyrov.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLes films de De Gruyter \u0026amp; Thys se déroulent souvent dans des espaces mentaux où les tensions interpersonnelles s’accumulent et où une mélancolie explicite au cœur des représentations sociétales exceptionnelles des deux artistes est perceptible. Pourtant, leurs œuvres ne réfléchissent pas uniquement aux grandes questions relatives à la classe sociale et à la privation, mais elles constituent également des observations obsessives de processus intérieurs. L’œuvre de De Gruyter \u0026amp; Thys nous rappelle une logique intérieure, difficile à définir, que chacun de nous porte en soi et qui est a joué un rôle central dans \u003ci\u003eOPTIMUNDUS.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"locale":"ru","name":null,"short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"de","name":null,"short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"es","name":null,"short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"el","name":null,"short_description":"","description":""}],"actors":[{"id":1705,"name":"Jos De Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys","assets":{"poster":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/mhka_ensembles_production/assets/public/000/013/620/large/doublePortrait.jpg?1358869072","poster_credits":"(c)Jos De Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys"}}],"items":[{"id":4234,"title":"Das Loch [The 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