Ensemble: Ricardo Brey . Inside Out
©photo: Dirk Pauwels, Ghent
‘The box is our head, the box is the cave, the attic, our heart … it is the memory and the world.’ – Ricardo Brey, 2013
It was only in December 2014 that the ensemble of cube-shaped artworks that are to be shown in the exhibition were given the name Inside Out (2013-2015). These 14 works were conceived with the idea that they would not be exhibited statically. The title tells us exactly how they are to be experienced: with the inside facing out. They cannot simply be opened, but have to be unfolded, like a flag or a flower: fold by fold, petal by petal. Brey makes demands on the viewer: the works require close personal attention, time and direct contact ‘so that the work reveals its chemistry’.
At first sight these works of art are just average archive boxes, but they bring with them a surprising variety of content. ‘Unpacking’ these works of art arouses a curiosity that Brey relates to popular magic, to the rabbit produced from the conjuror’s hat. It soon turns out that the content is endless, and that the viewer is overcome by a huge range of material that leads him to suspect that Brey is a tanner, carpenter, joiner and welder. It is the process of opening, unfolding, unravelling and expanding that fully activates the artwork.
Although their form is cubic, their sphere of influence is circular. These works of art are produced as part of a series with no numbers or end and contain openings within openings and hidden compartments that may never be found.
A team of Insiders will activate the works every day. You should witness this intimate process so as to experience the works of art to the full.
At 3 pm every day. And on Thursdays also at 7 pm. On Saturdays and Sundays at 11.30 am and 3 pm.
"(...) Everything I have ever thought is one hundred percent in the boxes. I dare to say that they are works of great maturity for me. I’m happy about them, and I feel very sure. I really suffer when I start to make them. That box is empty and this one… Where do you find what to believe in? They are objects made to believe in something, for me to believe in something." (Ricardo Brey)
Works
>Ricardo Brey, Obra en Rojo (Work in red), 2012-2013.Object, paint, fabric, paper, rope, buttons, glass, iron, alabaster, red oxide, one leporello book, auxiliary box, 23 x 33 x 33 cm (box closed), 18 x 75 x 75 cm (box open), auxiliary box: 12 x 30 x 28 cm.
>Ricardo Brey, Gasoline around the Moon, 2012-2013.Object, fabric, paper, metal, wood, rope, wire, clay, glass teardrops, ostrich eggshells, wax, one leporello book, 70 x 75 x 75 cm.
>Ricardo Brey, Coagulations, 2013-2014.Object, metallic paint, paper, black sand, iron oxide, rope, chains, keys, locks, barons, two leporello books, two notebooks and folder with two drawings, 23 x 33 x 33 cm (box closed), 25 x 75 x 75 cm (box opened).
>Ricardo Brey, Today I almost remember, 2013.Object, paper, jute, gray emulsion, raffia, rope, clay, rubber, ceramic, metal, one notebook, textile, sand, gray emulsion, 26 x 33 x 33 cm (box closed), 26 x 75 x 75 cm (box open).
>Ricardo Brey, Love, 2013.Object, fabric, aged gold metallic paper, metal, battery, telephone coin, horns, terracota, bells, chain, bronze, wood, two leporello books, one notebook, 28 x 29 x 29 cm (box closed), dimensions variable (box open).
>Ricardo Brey, Shout even Gently, 2013.Object, metallic paint, paper, aged silver metallic paper, folding carpenter’s ruler, flute, arrow point, trinket, metal, lead, nails, silvered metal bird, 38 x 37.5 x 37.5 cm (box closed), 38 x 75 x 75 cm (box open).
>Ricardo Brey, Glimpse of Hidden Things, 2014-2015.Object, golden aged metallic paper, marketry, pirite, dice , mirrow, metal, nest, screws, pistons and two leporello books, 23 x 33 x 33 cm (box closed).
>Ricardo Brey, The Book of Hours, 2014.Object, glas, mechanisms watches and two leporlello books, 27 x 33 x 33 cm (box closed), 23 x 75 x 75 cm (box opened).
>Ricardo Brey, Gothic: 1, 2014.Object, metal, marketry, glas, dried plant, beaker and two leporello books, 34 x 33 x 33 cm (box closed), 34 x 75 x 75 cm (box opened).
>Ricardo Brey, Ongon Tree, 2014.Object, paper, spoon, coins, tortoise shells, metal, ceramic, lead, glass, buttons, leather, chains and one leporlello book, 23 x 33 x 33 cm (box closed); 15 x 75 x 75 cm (box opened).
>Ricardo Brey, A Dream of Nine Nights, 2014.Object, metal, golden aged metallic paper, metallic objects, keys, metalic carpenter's ruler, sphere, trumpet, two leporello books and two drawings, 23 x 33 x 33 cm (box closed), 25 x 75 x 75 cm (box opened).
>Ricardo Brey, The Circles of Desire, 2014.Object, silver aged metallic paper, brons, paper, lead, wood, wire, metal stars and two leporello books, 27 x 33 x 33 cm (box closed), 24 x 75 x 75 cm (box opened).
>Ricardo Brey, The Seed, 2014.Object, glass, wood, beat, one leporello book and one notebook, 24 x 33 x 33 cm (box closed); 24 x 75 x 75 cm (box open).
>Ricardo Brey, Out of Troubles, 2014.Object, ceramics, metal, stone, lead, bronce, two leporello books, 24 x 33 x 33 cm.