Interested in the process of collecting as a reflection of the owner’s identity, we invite you to the 4th edition of ‘Private Collection Selected By’, an international group exhibition with works from a private collection chosen by a gallery artist who is also part of that collection. In collaboration with the collectors and the gallerist, the artist curates the show and intertwines it with a series of new works and interventions. In previous editions of ‘Private Collection Selected by’, Hans Vandekerckhove selected from the collection of Paul & Marie- Rose Declercq- Benoot (2021), Derek Sullivan from the collection of Anny De Decker (2014) & Anneke Eussen from the collection of Tanguy & Bieke Van Quickenborne-Clerinx (2012).
For this edition we asked London-based Ben Edmunds (UK, 1994) to make a selection from the private collection of Joost & Siska Vanhaerents-Dezutter, also known through their active involvement in the famous Vanhaerents Art Collection. As is the case with the family collection, the private collection of Joost & Siska reflects the diversity and vitality of current art practices. Both established & emerging artists are represented in this exhibition, with works in various media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography & video.
We feel privileged that Joost & Siska give the artist and the public the opportunity to share in their passion for art and show their support for Ben Edmunds’ work. In the text below, Ben shares his take on Joost & Siska’s collection and how he connects it to his own practice.
‘We’ve all had too much sorrow now is the time for Joy’ – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
A haunting, pale figure waits for you on the bridge.
A bridge from here but to who knows where?
He is cloaked and stares solemnly at you with a black horse.
You have no other route.
Elsewhere, a document to sign – ‘LIFE after DEATH for ……’.
The name is blank, as are the time and place requested below.
Hope is on offer, but not quite yet.
Another man stands in the dark as water washes over him.
He is lit from above but we cannot see the source.
We witness his transfiguration.
On the occasions I have met Joost and Siska, whether at the gallery, in their home or at their family’s museum, I believe Joost has only ever worn a sharp black suit. We talk about our shared love for Nick Cave and Tindersticks, and our passion for artists that manage to embrace yet transcend the gloom. Siska, on the other hand, I’m not sure she would own something black. Her joyous technicolour outfits match the artworks they have come to see, and on several occasions she has requested that I make a pink coloured painting. I expect she has a pink jacket she would like to wear to the gallery. We can learn a lot about collectors from their collection, and to me this is a collection characterised by darkness and by hope.
Several of my new works created for this show are about darkness moving into light. Speckled gradients of dyed fabric where black moves to blue moves to white. Solid black triangles sailing up the wall with their glowing yellow counterparts. Too much time alone in the studio gets you thinking about death. But nothing can prepare you for the blistering rays of hope. Joost and Siska grasp this with both hands. They acknowledge the spectrum of life and I have boundless admiration for the passion and hope they bring.
– Ben Edmunds, March 2025
