Raffaella Crispino and Hans Demeulenaere at Italian Cultural Institute

Artists: Raffaella Crispino and Hans Demeulenaere

Exhibition title: What We Can Use, What We Can’t Move

Curated by: Laura Viale and Maria Elena Minuto

Venue: Italian Cultural Institute, Brussels, Belgium

Date: January 12 – February 24, 2017

Photography: Alexandra Bertels, all images copyright and courtesy of the artists

“a due”. Arte Contemporanea in Italia e Belgio 1990-2015 (“in twos”. Contemporary Art in Italy and Belgium 1990-2015), conceived and curated by Laura Viale and Maria Elena Minuto for the Italian Cultural Institute in Brussels, is a project that originated from the idea of creating a dialogue between a series of Italian and Belgian artists who have emerged since the 1990s up to the latest generations.

With a cycle of appointments that will continue until the end of 2018, “a due” hosts exhibitions, performances and encounters that highlight the dialogue between artists coming from different cultures, experiences and generations. Each Italian invites a Belgian to exhibit and create a relationship of affinity or contrast between artists.

From November 2015 to June 2016 the following pairs of artists exhibited their works: Davide Bertocchi (Modena, 1969) and Joris Van de Moortel (Ghent, 1983), Enrico Gaido (Turin, 1971) and Freek Wambacq (Brussels, 1978), Margherita Moscardini (Donoratico, 1981) and Futurefarmers (Belgium-USA, a collective founded in 1995), Laura Viale (Turin, 1967) and Stijn Cole (Ghent, 1978).

The second year of the project opens with What We Can Use, What We Can’t Move by Raffaella Crispino and Hans Demeulenaere. This show results from a close collaboration between the two artists and originates as an ironical analysis of the limits and possibilities offered by the exhibition space of the Italian Cultural Institute. The photographic archives of the two artists become the starting point for the creation of their works. With a critical rereading of “display in art” and “the art of display”, Crispino and Demeulenaere reflect on the critical and linguistic rationale behind contemporary art exhibition and curatorial methodologies. A selection of the material produced and preserved by the artists develops a complex narrative made up of images, objects, sculptures and installations that leave visible traces of their creative and exploratory process.

Raffaella Crispino (Naples, 1979) lives and works in Brussels. She creates installations and sculptures, using different media including video, textiles and photography. After graduating in Visual Arts at the IUAV in Venice (2007), she has been a resident artist at the HISK in Ghent (2014-15), the JCVA in Jerusalem (2010) and the CCA-Kitakyushu in Japan (2008-2009). Crispino has been a finalist in numerous competitions in Italy and Belgium, and in 2013 won the Young Artistic Talent Award and Prix Médiatine in Brussels. Her most recent solo exhibitions include: Tokyo – San Francisco, Super Dakota Gallery, Brussels (2016); c/o Alternate Correspondence in collaboration with Kasper Bosmans, 1/9unosunove Gallery, Rome (2015); Faux en écriture, Dauwens & Beernaert Gallery, Brussels (2016); and It takes two to make an accident, HISK, Ghent (2015).

Hans Demeulenaere (Ostend, 1974) lives and works in Bruges. He graduated in Visual Arts at the LUCA School of Arts in Ghent and has been a resident artist at the Masereelcentrum in Kasterlee (2016) and the Workspacebrussels in Brussels (2015). Central to his artistic research are his reflections on exhibition spaces and the transformation of architectural elements into sculptures and installations. His most recent solo and group exhibitions include: You make a better door than you do a window, with Emi Kodama, Beursschouwburg, Brussels (2016); Politics of Installation, with Bas van den Hurk, P/////AKT, Amsterdam (2015); Be ALL AND END ALL, with Herman Van Ingelgem and Marc Nagtzaam, Millington Marriott, London (2015); Some Objects, Eight Sculptures, Several Frames, One Video and a Book, Mu.ZEE, Ostend (2014); The Gathering Of Characters And Forms (Chapter I), Dash, Kortrijk, (2014); and A Never Ending Story, Extra City Kunsthalle, Antwerp (2013).

“a due”. Arte Contemporanea in Italia e Belgio. 1990-2015 is a project by Laura Viale (Turin, 1967), artist, and Maria Elena Minuto (Rome, 1981), Ph.D., art historian and independent writer. Both currently live and work in Brussels.

Raffalla Crispino and Hans Demeulenaere, Een Onmogelijk Gesprek – Una Conversazione Impossibile, 2017, Audiowork on DVD, 16 minutes, prints on colored paper 42 x 29,7 cm each