Ricardo Brey – Fuel to the Fire
(c)photo: Isabel Brey, Ghent - Courtesy Ricardo Brey and Galerie Nathalie Obadia , Paris-Brussels
The exhibition Fuel to the Fire linked the two characters which Ricardo Brey brings together in himself: the historic artist at a critical moment in the history of Cuban art, and the artist who lives and works in Flanders, creates work that is highly contemporary and who is critical of the consumption of images and the slickness with which they tend to present themselves these days.
Fuel to the Fire showed for the first time a comprehensive and large-scale representation of an oeuvre which most people only know through individual, odd pieces and gallery exhibitions.
The earliest works in the exhibition included the installation The structure of myths and 74 pages from Papeles de Verrazano (Verrazano’s papers) which were presented for the first time since 1986.
The exhibition also showcased two major series of more recent works that are not only fascinating in terms of content but were also innovative in design. There was, for example, a series of 21 boxes called Inside Out (2013 to 2015) which unfolded in a multitude of books, drawings, as well as sculptural and performative depictions. There were also a dozen large photo-based works that were recently completed, and which combined the intensity of the image with its negation throughout the intensity of the objects.
The 1004 drawings in 99 display cases of Universe (2002-2006), and the solar system of Every Life is a Fire (2010-2012) were presented in locations outside the museum: in the assembly hall of the 19th-century Athenaeum close to Central Station, and the high altar of St. Paul's Church, which boasts the country’s most important collection of Baroque sculptures.
The exhibition was realized with the support of: Royal Antwerp Atheneum, St. Paul's Church Antwerp, Galerie Nathalie Obadia Paris-Brussels, Galerie Tanit Munich-Beyrouth and S.M.A.K. Ghent.
EXTRA MUROS: Ricardo Brey – Fuel to the Fire
The 1004 drawings in 99 display cases of Universe (2002-2006), and the solar system of Every Life is a Fire (2010-2012) were presented in locations outside the museum: in the assembly hall of the 19th-century Athenaeum close to Central Station, and the high altar of St. Paul's Church, which boasts the country’s most important collection of Baroque sculptures.