Artist: Elleke Frijters
Exhibition title: Guarding my fence
Venue: Base-Alpha, Antwerp, Belgium
Date: September 14 – October 28, 2023
Photography: We Document Art, all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Base-Alpha, Antwerp
In the first solo by Elleke Frijters in Base-Alpha Gallery, this young Antwerp artist shows a new series of sculptures that she has realized in recent years in her studios in Antwerp and Mons.
Her fascination is with an almost impossible fusion of protection and the feeling of being extremely controlled. Frijters also becomes intrigued by the dualities between nature and construction and how an interaction or even a reversal can arise.
The large monumental works are created as “closed courtyards”, defined areas within which all kinds of things take place and which do not need to be seen by others.
What exactly is going on inside is left unclear. Is it a piece of nature that is protected? Something artificial that was created by humans and should not be seen?
Frijters builds her sculptures through very recognizable references to garden fences and medieval shields, in order to create small safe places.
The small forts that are created in this way are in turn well-guarded by other sculptures in the scenography of the exhibition. These form a visual mix between natural (plant or animal) elements and surveillance cameras. The duality in the recognizable form of both – but certainly also the positioning – only makes the choice for one or the other more difficult, but also all the more fascinating.
