15.03.2012 - 05.05.2012
Reasons for Walling a House at Valerie Traan gallery, Antwerp
15.03.2012 - 4 pm
Opening of the exhibition and launch of the book “reasons for walling a house” (Ruby Press)
Featuring a select group of creative people in a concept of the architects of 51N4E.
There will be works by Josse de Pauw, Dirk Braeckman, Enrique Marty, Chevalier-Masson, Andrea Branzi, Bel, Something Fantastic, Goele De Bruyn en 51N4E.
25.02.2012 - 7.04.2012
Exhibition at Fotohof, Salzburg
24.02.2012 - 8.30 pm
Opening of the exhibition in the main hall
Martin Germann, Berlin, will speak about the exhibition
25.02.2012 - 11 am
Meet the artist/ book presentation
Dirk Braeckman in conversation with Jeffrey Ladd; discussion
Dirk Braeckman’s photographs depict inner worlds. Mostly they are interiors, inner vistas; sometimes human figures, often nudes, time and again as fragments. The images are immersed in a mysterious darkness, creating an intimate cosmos whose laws perhaps are also rooted in the tradition of Belgian Surrealism. In his images Braeckman condenses the rooms, which are often deserted yet furnished with armchairs, sofas and beds, into a gloomy atmosphere of vulnerable existential exposure. His world is charged with a latent erotic tension, also in images in which the human figure is absent. Braeckman is not interested in portraying specific locations or people; rather, he generates a concentrated detached image reality whose time and place references are merely alluded to as ciphers in his titles. He also makes images of images, revealing the syntax behind the technology of photographic processes: flashlight, over- and under-exposure, and interventions in the development process itself lead towards the unmistakable materiality of his images. “On the surface my images appear peaceful, when you look at them. (...) If you reduce everything, it comes up and hits you between the eyes. Sex, death, everything. I know, it sounds like a stultifying cliché, but you have to dare to admit that that’s what it’s about. (...)” D. B. 1998
13.01.2012 - 03.03.2012
Group Exhibition at Galerie Thomas Fisher curated by Martin Germann
Dirk Braeckman, Seiichi Furuya, Jacob Holdt,
Larry Sultan, Mette Tronvoll, Tobias Zielony
Photography has always been a medium of doubt. Where is the boundary between oneself and the other? Where does the border lie, where can it be reinforced, where can it be erased? The group exhibition "Private" features works that distance themselves from the familiar and embrace the unknown. Pictures of objective conquest, family therapy, brief intimacy and political or private mission are created on the street, at home and in the indeterminate locations in between. At times everything is revealed at once, at times almost nothing at all. (Pressrelease as PDF)
Fotografie ist ein Medium des Zweifels. Wo endet das Eigene und wo beginnt das Fremde? Wo liegt die Grenze, wie lässt sie sich verstärken oder verwischen? Die Gruppenausstellung "Private" präsentiert künstlerische Werke, die sich vom Vertrauten distanzieren oder ins Unbekannte investieren. Auf der Straße, im Zuhause und an undefinierten Orten dazwischen entstehen Bilder sachlicher Eroberung, familiärer Therapie, kurzfristiger Intimität, politischer oder privater Mission. Manchmal zeigt sich alles auf einmal, manchmal kaum etwas davon. (Pressetext als PDF)
10.11.2011
Avant-Première Goudvis: Dirk Braeckman
Fotograaf Dirk Braeckman maakt zijn vaak zwart-witte beelden als een schilder. Niet wát hij fotografeert is belangrijk maar wel de manier waarop.
Voorstelling van de documentaire in het bijzijn van de kunstenaar en de makers om 20u. Duur: 52 minuten. De toegang is gratis, reserveren verplicht. Reservatie: stuur een mail naar Museum M / Canvas
28.10.2011 – 26.11.2011
Exhibition at Zeno X
06.10.2011 – 08.01.2012
M presents older and new works of Dirk Braeckman
Image credit
Dirk Braeckman, “Alexia-11”, Courtesy Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp
“Perhaps I want to create things that are elusive. And for me photography is the only way to do it. You've got an image in front if you: it's not simply formal, but you can't immediately describe it in any other way. At most you can say what's in it, but that's not what it's about. What I want, in fact, is to arrive at a point where there is nothing more but that image.” -Dirk Braeckman
One of Belgium's leading artists, Dirk Braeckman (Eeklo, °1958) has shown his work in various solo and group exhibitions in his home country and abroad. The exhibition at M comprises a selective overview of his extensive body of photographic works of the last 20 years, juxtaposed with new images, both still and moving. Special attention is paid to the rich textures and materials that endow his art with emphatic tactility and to the different media with which the artist experiments.
In each of his photographs, Dirk Braeckman builds a very subjective vision of reality in which objects, matter and representation are melted. Over the years, the disarming expressiveness of his early biographical (self-)portraits evolved into a more detached and intuitive approach of places filled with collective memories. Nowadays Braeckman captures dazzlingly pure images of anonymous sites, from which the physical presence of people is usually banned. The tonal warmth of the large, dark grey prints augments a gripping sense of enclosure, containment, and spatial vibrancy. The artist considers his pictures to be 'impersonal choices' which have imposed from space. He identifies them with a code which refers to the locations where the shots were taken. Presented as monumental prints, the works claim their share of exhibition space with emphasis.
Though Braeckman's pictures do not set out to tell a story, they suggest many. In that sense, his work is never definitive. It remains open beyond the moment, beyond the frame. At first glance, the depicted scenes are quite easily identifiable as everyday situations derived from Braeckman's personal environment. But this is not what these images are about. Braeckman is interested in the image itself. In a variety of ways his art tests the limits of the medium. To temper an all too direct link to the motif, the artist generally prefers black-and white photography and a photo paper that renders a tactile effect to the picture's surface. The presence of a blinding flash light in many of his photographs leads to the inevitable disruption of the illusionary character of the presentation. On other occasions the pixel structure of the pictures enhances the impression of two-dimensionality. Braeckman's deliberate use of blurring, extreme cutting and obscuring of the perspective make for an atmosphere of uncertainty and indeterminacy, sometimes even evolving into the realm of complete abstraction.
06.10.2011
Bookrelease
Dirk Braeckman
Roma Publications, 20011
384 pp, hardcover, 28,5 × 24,5 cm
Edition: 2500, € 55,-
ISBN 978-90-77459-67-6
Dirk Braeckman is one of Belgium’s leading artistic photographers. In each of his monumental photographic works, he creates an enclosed, isolated world that appears endless in its tactility, while at the same time gives short shrift to the illusions of the medium. These images do not aim to convey anything and yet they are suggestive of complete narratives.
Texts in Dutch and English by Martin German, and Dirk Lauwaert. Design: Kim Beirnaert
Order at Roma Publications / Order at Idea Books / For shops only
05.10.2011 – 20:00
Invitation to the opening of the exhibition
In each of the monumental photographic works, Dirk Braeckman (Eeklo, °1958) creates an enclosed, isolated world that appears endless in its tactility, while at the same time giving short shrift to the illusions of the medium. These images do not aim to convey anything, yet they are suggestive of completenarratives. The exhibition in M presents a selective overview of his extensive work, placed into dialogue with a large number of new photographs.