Artist: Willehad Eilers
Exhibition title: Holiday on Horse
Venue: Harlan Levey Projects 1050, Brussels, Belgium
Date: March 10 – April 2, 2022
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Harlan Levey Projects, Brussels
In preparation for his frst solo exhibition at HLP 1080 (April, 2023), Willhead Eilers’ presents Holiday on Horse, which brings together oil and acrylic painting, drawings and video works. From the crude lines of acrylic to sharp details brushed in oil or the text-based videos that speak towards his dedicated writing practice, each medium gives and takes lessons from another. The recklessness of the lines mirrors the numbness in the texts and a certain attitude and approach towards human behavior connects seemingly diferent types of production. Humor has long been the binding line through Eilers’ practice. An astute, open minded and non-judgmental observer, aesthetics and language become vehicles to transport feelings and unveil a social body that isn’t as glamorous as its projections, refections and wants. Eilers’ work seems to ask if the actual aim of self-improvement is self-destruction as the search for meaning so often strays into material or medium or some form of medicine that numbs one to it all. The paintings and drawings depict scenes in which various forms of excess are imbibed to escape reality or the guilt of hedonistic entitlement or addiction. These build on his last exhibition at HLP 1050 where he presented ‘blind drawings’. For Eilers, blind drawing was both an exercise to retrain the wrists and prioritize sentiment over style or social norms, as well as a conceptual aesthetic choice to marry said style and subject matter.
“We want to have a holiday on horse, but are too drunk to stay in the saddle. We would love to drink, but our vision is already blurry.”
Willehad Eilers, Holiday on Horse, exhibition view Harlan Levey Projects 1050, 2022. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, Holiday on Horse, exhibition view Harlan Levey Projects 1050, 2022. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, Holiday on Horse, exhibition view Harlan Levey Projects 1050, 2022. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, Holiday on Horse, exhibition view Harlan Levey Projects 1050, 2022. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, Holiday on Horse, exhibition view Harlan Levey Projects 1050, 2022. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, Holiday on Horse, 2021, Ink and acrylic on canvas, 190 x 280 cm, 74 3/4 x 110 1/4 in. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, The Beauty and the Beauty, 2021, installation view Holiday on Horse, Harlan Levey Projects 1050, 2022. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, The Beauty and the Beauty, 2021, Ink and acrylic on canvas, 140 x 190 cm – 55 1/8 x 74 3/4 in. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, While the World Is Burning, 2021, Ink and acrylic on canvas, 140 x 190 cm – 55 1/8 x 74 3/4 in. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, While the World Is Burning (detail), 2021, Ink and acrylic on canvas, 140 x 190 cm – 55 1/8 x 74 3/4 in. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, Sweet Nothings, 2022, installation view Holiday on Horse, Harlan Levey Projects 1050, 2022. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, Sweet Nothings, 2022, Oil on canvas, 140 x 190 cm – 55 1/8 x 74 3/4 in. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, While the World is Burning, 2022, Oil on canvas, 140 x 190 cm – 55 1/8 x 74 3/4 in. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, While the World is Burning, 2022, installation view Holiday on Horse, Harlan Levey Projects 1050, 2022. Photo credit: Adriaan Hauwaert
Willehad Eilers, Du Bis Ein Must, 2014, HD Video, Colour, Sound, 3 minutes, 46 seconds
