In 1971 a film was screened at the Paris Biennale, supervised by Jacques Charlier, for which Walter Swennen made the opening sequence. Simply consisting of a static shot of the artist, the film addressed larger issues concerning the image, translation and projection. It was a time marked by the use of ‘conceptual’ forms, which is surprising considering the artist’s later work. Although Swennen had not yet applied himself to painting then, there was already question of an understanding of the image that calls forth, to some extent, associations with his painting. Departing from examples from his own works and cinematographic documentation of various kinds (documentary, artist’s film, contribution to other artist’s films), the presentation will paint an indirect picture of the artist bringing together characters as diverse as Prometheus, Cowboy, and Spinoza.
In French. / +- 20 min.
The presentation will be followed by a screening of the following films:
Walter Swennen, Untitled, 1971.
16 mm transferred to DVD, black-and-white, sound, 00:05:41.
Part of a collective film produced by Jacques Charlier for the 1971 Paris Biennale, including also Guy Mees, Leo Josefstein, Charlier, Bernd Lohaus, and Panamarenko.
Michel Couturier, Pier, 1983.
16 mm transferred to DVD, colour, sound, 00:09:19.
Angel Vergara, Prométhée, 1987.
S8 (super 8 mm) transferred to DVD, colour (PAL), 00:01:02.
Karel Schoetens and Wim van Mulders, Walter Swennen: Verwant, 1989.
16 mm transferred to DVD, colour, sound, 00:20:63.
Produced by Kunstzaken, BRT.
Espace 251 Nord, Interviews d’artistes: Walter Swennen, 2001.
Hi-8 video transferred to DVD, colour, sound, 00:26:18.
Part of a series of interviews produced in the framework of the exhibition 'Ici & Maintenant/Hier & Nu' at Tour & Taxis/Thurn & Taxis, Brussels.
Walter Swennen, Taxi & dragon, 2009.
DVD, colour, sound, 00:00:08 in loop.
26.01.2014, 16:00-19:00