HANS OP DE BEECK: SEA OF TRANQUILLITY & STAGING VIEWS

Hans Op de Beeck uses a wide range of media in his work—he paints, draws, photographs, films, and creates sculptures and monumental installations. He also writes novellas and designs stage sets. In his parallel worlds, he creates fictional places, moments, and characters that he hopes viewers will accept as real for a moment. In his play with illusion, the artist questions the complex relationship between reality and representation; between what we see and what we want to believe in order to better cope with our own inadequacies. His suggestive imagery produces disturbing, melancholic images full of ambivalence, reflecting the tragicomic absurdity of our postmodern existence. In his new series Sea of Tranquillity, Op de Beeck explores the fascination and utopia of luxury liners, drawing on historical, gigantic ships such as the Titanic and Queen Mary. In doing so, he questions common notions of belief in infallible technology.
In Staging Views, the second part of the Thun exhibition, Op de Beeck shows further works that reflect his deep interest in panoramic architecture, thus also creating a dialogue with the Thun panorama.

The Kunstmuseum Thun is hosting the Belgian artist’s first institutional solo exhibition in Switzerland. It has been organized in collaboration with Le Grand Café, Centre d’art contemporain, St. Nazaire (France), ARGOS in Brussels (Belgium), and CAP in Burgos (Spain).