Artist: Emmanuel Van der Auwera
Exhibition title: A Thousand Pictures of Nothing
Venue: Harlan Levey Projects, Brussels, Belgium
Date: September 7 – December 16, 2023
Photography: all images copyrighted and courtesy of the artist and Harlan Levey Projects, Brussels
Note: Exhibition’s press release is available here
A Thousand Pictures of Nothing, Emmanuel Van der Auwera’s third solo exhibition with the gallery, reflects on a world, which seems to reject rationality, reason and physical reality for technological myths, emotional politics and conspiracy-ridden claims. Continuing to investigate the impact of automation, image circulation and digital culture, Van der Auwera straddles the digital and the analogue, interested less in scientific promise than its impact on the human condition, mental wellbeing and contradictions in perception of possibilities for a better world. Scrolling through pressing social topics and major events, works in the exhibition incorporate both emerging and traditional technologies to explore the influence of media, regulation and the radical shaping of opinion in the post-truth era. These include ‘VideoSculptures’, a film constructed with audio and video AI tools as well as a selection of ‘Mementos’ adding to his acclaimed series and unique collaboration with technicians at a Belgian newspaper production plant. The archeology of mass media and documentary approaches within a generative digital space connect the various modes of production.
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, exhibition view A Thousand Pictures of Nothing, Harlan Levey Projects, 2023
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, VideoSculpture XXV (Archons), 2022, installation view A Thousand Pictures of Nothing, Harlan Levey Projects, 2023
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, VideoSculpture XVII (January 6th), 2023, installation view A Thousand Pictures of Nothing, Harlan Levey Projects, 2023
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, VideoSculpture XVII (January 6th), 2023, installation view A Thousand Pictures of Nothing, Harlan Levey Projects, 2023
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, VideoSculpture XVII (January 6th), 2023, installation view A Thousand Pictures of Nothing, Harlan Levey Projects, 2023
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, VideoSculpture XVII (January 6th), 2023, installation view A Thousand Pictures of Nothing, Harlan Levey Projects, 2023
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, exhibition view A Thousand Pictures of Nothing, Harlan Levey Projects, 2023
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, exhibition view A Thousand Pictures of Nothing, Harlan Levey Projects, 2023
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Memento 44 (Bag Men), 2023, Newspaper .3mm aluminum offset plate mounted on aluminum frame, 98 x 68.5 x 2.5 cm-38 5/8 x 27 x 1 in
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Memento 45 (Study for White Cloud I), 2023, Newspaper .3mm aluminum offset plate mounted on aluminum frame, 98 x 68.5 x 2.5 cm-38 5/8 x 27 x 1 in
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Memento 46 (Legislative Violence), 2023, Newspaper .3mm aluminum offset plate mounted on aluminum frame, 98 x 68.5 x 2.5 cm-38 5/8 x 27 x 1 in
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Memento 47 (Control Explosion I)), 2023, Newspaper .3mm aluminum offset plate mounted on aluminum frame, 99.5 x 70.5 x 2.5 cm-39 1/8 x 27 3/4 x 1 in
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Memento 48 (Control Explosion II), 2023, Newspaper .3mm aluminum offset plate mounted on aluminum frame, 99.5 x 70.5 x 2.5 cm-39 1/8 x 27 3/4 x 1 in
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Memento 51 (Boston Marathon), 2023, Newspaper .3mm aluminum offset plate mounted on aluminum frame, 99 x 143 x 2.5 cm-39 x 56 1/4 x 1 in
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Memento 51 (Boston Marathon), 2023, Newspaper .3mm aluminum offset plate mounted on aluminum frame, 99 x 143 x 2.5 cm-39 x 56 1/4 x 1 in
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Memento 32 (Capitol Red), 2021, Newspaper .3mm aluminum offset plates mounted on aluminum frame, 132 x 288 x 3.5 cm-52 x 113 3/8 x 1 3/8 in
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Memento 32 (Capitol Red) (detail), 2021, Newspaper .3mm aluminum offset plates mounted on aluminum frame, 132 x 288 x 3.5 cm-52 x 113 3/8 x 1 3/8 in
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Memento 49 (TBC), 2023, Newspaper .3mm aluminum offset plate mounted on aluminum frame, 49 x 69 x 2.5 cm-19 1/4 x 27 1/8 x 1 in
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Memento 50 (Control Explosion III), 2023, Newspaper .3mm aluminum offset plate mounted on aluminum frame, 49 x 69 x 2.5 cm-19 1/4 x 27 1/8 x 1 in
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, exhibition view A Thousand Pictures of Nothing, Harlan Levey Projects, 2023
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Memento 52 (TBC), 2023, Newspaper .3mm aluminum offset plate mounted on aluminum frame, 143 x 99 x 2.5 cm-56 1/4 x 39 x 1 in
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, White Cloud, 2023, installation view A Thousand Pictures of Nothing, Harlan Levey Projects, 2023
Emmanuel Van der Auwera, White Cloud, 2023, installation view A Thousand Pictures of Nothing, Harlan Levey Projects, 2023
