Artist: Gauthier Oushoorn
Exhibition title: Edelweiss
Venue: Etablissement d’en face, Brussels, Belgium
Date: April 15 – May 28, 2023
Photography: ©Regular Studio / all images courtesy of the artist and Etablissement d’en face
With the title ‘Edelweiss’, taken from the musical ‘Sound of Music’, Gauthier Oushoorn grafts melancholy into the first art exhibition in an early 20th century building–the new home of Établissement d’en face. At the end of that film, Captain von Trapp leads his brood in a hymn of praise for this emblematic flower, high and pure from the mountains of Austria. After the song they escape their homeland, fleeing to safer places.
In the best possible scenario of all conceivable worlds everything runs smoothly. A glass door comfortably opens us into a spacious salon, where a clear transparent wheel seems to spin frictionlessly and endlessly, promising perfection and endless movement. A progression of time, without the burden of consumption.
A raised hand assures the best intentions, a group portrait of 3 dignitaries confirms the smooth running of a well-designed game.
Upstairs, an airplane engine offers a promise of the triumph of gravity. An arsenal of building blocks displayed on a desk table projects possibilities for a familiar structure, a classical harmony– the theater. Trust us, mortals, we’re doing our best.
