#30: Don’t work with artists who are assholes.|#26: More artists, less borders.|#47: Artists need to be supported more than ever in the development of their practice due to the gaps that have been created in the field of fine art|#75: A building is a capricious thing: it is inhabited and changed, and its existence is a tale of constant and curious transformation.|#19: Have fun at the exhibition.|#15: Kunsthal Gent aims to be an extension of public space.|#90: The best systems have a failure or ‘a hole’ in them…|#25: Never ask the artist to just present their work, ask them to co-create and co-organise the space.|#58: Kunsthal Gent is a monument. If you plan to drill a hole, contact Tomas first.|#112: Spaces today don’t need to be curated, but occupied.|#2: Bring something new to the city of Ghent.|#60: Look after all tools. The moment it looks like things are missing it means that things are missing.|#88: Changing internships, artists, curators,... are important propositions to keep a fresh set of eyes.|#24: We invest long-term in individual artists’ careers, working over time in different contexts. This also applies to designers / web-developers / photographers / volunteers /…|#53: Immaterial support for artists is important.|#124: Do less, do it better.|#3: Entrance to all exhibitions at Kunsthal Gent is free.|#5: Kunsthal Gent is a city where different identities collide in an ongoing exhibition without end date. New exhibitions are always a new layer in this ongoing story.|#131: A visitor who comes back after a week might discover new additions to the exhibition.|#99: Evolve according to changing needs.|#65: No excuses: Thursday morning, team meeting.|#64: Arrange a distribution of forces.|#107: Build a community / scene.|#40: Follow the artist|#29: We make the program for the artist that we exhibit.|#30: Don’t work with artists who are assholes.|#26: More artists, less borders.|#47: Artists need to be supported more than ever in the development of their practice due to the gaps that have been created in the field of fine art|#75: A building is a capricious thing: it is inhabited and changed, and its existence is a tale of constant and curious transformation.|#19: Have fun at the exhibition.|#15: Kunsthal Gent aims to be an extension of public space.|#90: The best systems have a failure or ‘a hole’ in them…|#25: Never ask the artist to just present their work, ask them to co-create and co-organise the space.|#58: Kunsthal Gent is a monument. If you plan to drill a hole, contact Tomas first.|#112: Spaces today don’t need to be curated, but occupied.|#2: Bring something new to the city of Ghent.|#60: Look after all tools. The moment it looks like things are missing it means that things are missing.|#88: Changing internships, artists, curators,... are important propositions to keep a fresh set of eyes.|#24: We invest long-term in individual artists’ careers, working over time in different contexts. This also applies to designers / web-developers / photographers / volunteers /…|#53: Immaterial support for artists is important.|#124: Do less, do it better.|#3: Entrance to all exhibitions at Kunsthal Gent is free.|#5: Kunsthal Gent is a city where different identities collide in an ongoing exhibition without end date. New exhibitions are always a new layer in this ongoing story.|#131: A visitor who comes back after a week might discover new additions to the exhibition.|#99: Evolve according to changing needs.|#65: No excuses: Thursday morning, team meeting.|#64: Arrange a distribution of forces.|#107: Build a community / scene.|#40: Follow the artist|#29: We make the program for the artist that we exhibit.|
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Opening: 25.01.2019 – 20:30

25.01—∞

Exhibition

Thomas Min & Egon Van Herreweghe:
Crisis of Masculinity

Crisis Of Masculinity is an installation consisting of an almost exact replica of the striking blue steel fence at Muscle Beach Venice, Los Angeles (USA). The work was manually assembled and constructed by both artists. Based on photographs and with the help of a friend who took measurements at the location in California, they developed a detailed reconstruction that was embedded within the architecture of Kunsthal Gent.

Muscle Beach, originally located on the beach of Santa Monica, is seen as the birthplace of the fitness hype and played an important role in popularizing and legitimizing the physical culture as we know it today. At the time of the Great Depression in the 1930s, the government invested in public gymnastics and fitness equipment and soon it became the place to be for celebrities, acrobats, gymnasts, bodybuilders and onlooking crowds. In 1952 the by then world famous Muscle Beach moved just down the beach to Venice and the center of gravity shifted to bodybuilding.

Anyone who takes a look now will find mostly shiny and toned bodies within the fence. The place outside is reserved for admirers and slightly lesser gods. On both sides it is a game of seeing and being seen. The fence forms both a physical and a mental barrier: whoever enters, as it were, enters the circus stage. The show can be observed through the imposing barrier of the fence.

In Kunsthal Gent, the training equipment and the accompanying muscle-ball rolling remain absent. By lifting the fence from its original context as a ready-made, attention is paid to the materiality of the construction. The ostensibly banal design, which is somewhere between an elephant stay in the zoo and the fence of the neighborhood playground, turns out to be pretty ingenious and put together with great skill - the artists also experienced this. The obstructive nature of the fence also stands out in Kunsthal Gent. The visitor is limited in his or her freedom of movement and thus forced to relate to the obstacle. The fact that the exhibition space is a former monastery, and thus originally a place for the mind rather than for the body, adds an extra layer of meaning.

In the creation process of Crisis Of Masculinity, the notion of labour also plays an important role. The execution of the construction work - from pouring concrete to welding - was performed entirely by Van Herreweghe and Min, without the training and routine that experienced construction workers have, instead compensating with perseverance and dedication. They learned by doing, finding solutions together for the challenges they encounter and discover the beauty of a well-designed object.

The installation will remain in Kunsthal Gent for an indefinite period of time but will gradually transform. The ambition is to cut the fence into pieces over time, to move to sculpture parks or private gardens, to lead a new life as a fremdkörper.

text: Maarten Dings


Crisis of Masculinity is a continuation of the collaboration between Thomas Min and Egon Van Herreweghe that started with the exhibition The Ideal Husband (Galerie Jan Colle, 2016), in which the artists examined the coded language and stereotypical symbols around the concept of masculinity. Because of changes in Western society, our ideas of masculinity is under pressure and in flux. At the same time, the rise of social media resulted in a new platform for the cult of the body.

Egon Van Herreweghe (1985, Ghent BE) studied photography at KASK in Ghent and undertook research in art and design at St Lucas in Antwerp. He is a laureate of HISK in Ghent (2014 - 2015). Since 2010 he has exhibited his work in Belgium and abroad, amongst others at Hopstreet Gallery, Brussels 2018, FOAM, Amsterdam 2014, Netwerk, Aalst 2014, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn 2016, Johannes Vogt, New York 2015.

Thomas Min (1992, Leuven BE) lives and works in Ghent, where he graduated in visual arts in the Photography Department of KASK. He exhibited his work in group- and solo shows in Belgium and abroad, amongst others at These Things Take Time, Ghent 2015, Marres Maastricht, NL 2016, 'Land Van Fotografie', Gent 2017, 'KRASJ4', Ninove 2018.

Thomas Min & Egon Van Herreweghe:
Crisis of Masculinity

Egon van Herreweghe & Thomas Min, Crisis Of Masculinity, 2019, photo © Michiel De Cleene

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Egon van Herreweghe & Thomas Min, Crisis Of Masculinity, 2019, photo © Michiel De Cleene Egon van Herreweghe & Thomas Min, Crisis Of Masculinity, 2019, photo © Michiel De Cleene
Egon van Herreweghe & Thomas Min, Crisis Of Masculinity, 2019, photo © Michiel De Cleene Egon van Herreweghe & Thomas Min, Crisis Of Masculinity, 2019, photo © Michiel De Cleene
Egon van Herreweghe & Thomas Min, Crisis Of Masculinity, 2019, photo © Michiel De Cleene Egon van Herreweghe & Thomas Min, Crisis Of Masculinity, 2019, photo © Michiel De Cleene
Egon van Herreweghe & Thomas Min, Crisis Of Masculinity, 2019, photo © Michiel De Cleene Egon van Herreweghe & Thomas Min, Crisis Of Masculinity, 2019, photo © Michiel De Cleene
Egon van Herreweghe & Thomas Min, Crisis Of Masculinity, 2019, photo © Michiel De Cleene Egon van Herreweghe & Thomas Min, Crisis Of Masculinity, 2019, photo © Michiel De Cleene
Egon van Herreweghe & Thomas Min, Crisis Of Masculinity, 2019, photo © Michiel De Cleene Egon van Herreweghe & Thomas Min, Crisis Of Masculinity, 2019, photo © Michiel De Cleene