M HKA, Antwerpen
11 December 2014 - 11 January 2015
This winter M HKA highlights the work of Wout Vercammen with A well-considered idea of an exhibition in 3 parts, which will be presented as a three-part exhibition.
Wout Vecammen’s (1938) time was marked by a never-ending sequence of revolutions in the art field. The young artist was shaped by what he found in his father’s bookshop, specializing in art and politics. During his schooling as a typographer John Trouillard (one of his teachers) introduced him to the rising trends in contemporary art.
From the 1950s onward, Vercammen exhibited in galleries in Antwerp, but also in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. During the 1960s Vercammen’s focus shifted to happenings, together with Panamarenko, Hugo Heyrman, Bernd Lohaus and Jacques Charlier. At the end of the 1960s Vercammen’s imagery found its own unmistakable final form: givens such as his Belgian identity, a ‘coincidence’ which Vercammen elevated to readymade or his choice to use the square meter as a standard of measurement, which can be interpreted along the same line.
At the end of the 1970s Wout Vercammen’s uncompromising approach was quite different from what was taking place in the Antwerp art scene. He was an outsider and became an artist’s artist. More so through his attitude and behaviour than through his work- which wasn’t very well known- he became a reference for new generations of artists, a living legend who rarely exhibited. With A well-considered idea of an exhibition in 3 parts M HKA pays tribute to a flamboyant artist, a loose cannon and a craftsman.
> Wout Vercammen, Compositie, 1956. Painting, oil on canvas , 86 x 106 cm.
> Wout Vercammen, Zonder titel [Untitled], 1960. Painting, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 70 cm.
> Wout Vercammen, Tao, 1961. Painting, acrylic on canvas, 85 x 70 cm.
> Wout Vercammen, Zonder titel [Untitled], 1962. Painting, acrylic on canvas, 82 x 101 cm .
> Wout Vercammen, To Kid Parret, 1962. Painting, oil on canvas, 45 x 35 cm.
> Wout Vercammen, Zonder titel [Untitled], 1963. Painting, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 86.5 cm.
> Wout Vercammen, Zonder titel [Untitled], 1963. Painting, acrylic on canvas, 81.1 x 101 cm.
> Wout Vercammen, Studie voor pneumatische sculptuur, 1965. Drawing.
> Wout Vercammen, Et vous!, 1965. Collage, collage, 33.5 x 27 cm.
> Wout Vercammen, Firestone green monster, 1965. Collage, collage, 33.5 x 27 cm.
> Wout Vercammen, Blaza Karanam, 1965. Drawing, ink on paper, 29.7 x 21 cm.
> Wout Vercammen, Moonscape, 1965. Object, 30 x 51 x 12.5 cm.
> Wout Vercammen, Naissance d'un mouvement, 1965. Painting, oil on canvas, 195 x 130 cm.
> Panamarenko, Wout Vercammen, Yoshio Nakajima, Dr. Hugo Heyrman, KYRPWWAWAX, International Happening News, Happening in een heerlijke stad IV [KYRPWWAWAX, International Happening News], 1965. Poster, black ink, pink paper, 28 x 44 cm.
> Panamarenko, Wout Vercammen, Dr. Hugo Heyrman, Yoshio Nakajima, Nu Happening van een bezette stad III [Now Happening of an Occupied City III], 1965. Poster, blue ink, paper, 29 x 18.5 cm.
> Panamarenko, Wout Vercammen, Dr. Hugo Heyrman, Bernd Lohaus, Yoshio Nakajima, Happening 6 , 1965. Poster, ink, paper, 29 x 18.5 cm.
> Wout Vercammen, Out some way, 1966-1967. Drawing, gouache on paper, 55 x 73 cm.
> Wout Vercammen, Cirkel-vierkant-driehoek, 1969. Painting, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm.
> Wout Vercammen, Wout Vercammen, 2014. Book, ink, paper, 30 x 30 cm, 454 p., language : Dutch, publisher : Galerie Ronny Van de Velde & Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Antwerpen, ISBN : 9789072828514.
> Wout Vercammen, Zonder titel [Untitled]. Painting, acrylic on canvas, 80.5 x 80.5 cm.