Installation views
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
To read the Dutch press release, click here.
Galerie Ron Mandos is proud to present Inner Garden, an exhibition by Filip Vervaet. The Belgian artist has transformed the gallery into an inner garden where the notions of inside and outside intertwine. Inner Garden is a dreamscape that evokes a science fiction-like atmosphere. Vervaet presents a reality that seems both familiar and alienating.
In the sand-filled spaces of the Inner Garden we find wondrous objects in which natural scenes can be recognized. Artistic media such as light and color filters are also used to shape our view on nature. Vervaet poses the question what do we experience as natural and how do we shape that experience?
Read more on our opening program during Amsterdam Art Week here.
Over the years, Vervaet has developed a particularly idiosyncratic body of work. As a sculptor, he works with traditional materials such as bronze, stone, and clay, and he creates large-scale installations and immersive experiences. Yet, he presents himself as a landscape painter who, in the tradition of Romanticism, creates images of fictional landscapes.
In his work, Vervaet examines the relationship between man and nature, and often refers to the perfectibility of nature. He is fascinated by the way we bend nature to our will – how we build parks with scenic viewpoints, fountains, and infrastructure to make our visit as pleasant as possible. With Inner Garden Vervaet addresses the absurdity of the makeable world.
Vervaet’s Inner Garden is an experience. His work is monumental and material by nature, but also reveals its immateriality and changeability. Vervaet plays with the reflection of light, color, and the viewer’s point of view. His sculptures transform slowly as a result of wind and oxidation. And so does our own experience – the longer we stay inside the Inner Garden, the more we become aware of the dream we are inhabiting.
But who says this dream could not become a reality? The way we treat nature today makes it a realistic scenario that planet Earth will one day be like this. Inner Garden has the look of a desolate post-apocalyptic world, where one finds traces of human activity and fossils of exotic plants. However, no human being makes appearance in this world.
