Hans Op de BeeckActor from M HKA Ensembles

Hans Op de Beeck

©image: Hilde van Canneyt

° 1969

Born in Turnhout (BE), lives in Brussels (BE).

Hans Op de Beeck determines the ultimate medium of his work through a search for the most effective presentation of an idea. Hitherto, his oeuvre includes sculptures, installations, videos, photography, animation, drawings, paintings – and he also writes.

The work of Op de Beeck focuses on the ambiguity caused by the mechanisation – and mediatisation – of reality as most people experience it. He chooses to work with icons of contemporary city life such as highways, swimming pools or exhibition halls. Op de Beeck never shows the moment when something happens but always the moment just before or just after. In his videos, he also occasionally stages human activity, such as a banquet or a parade.

What matters, ultimately, is the visual statement. In the case of Op de Beeck, the latter is dreamy and melancholic, suspended between detached and involved observation.

Media

>Hans Op De Beeck, 2012

Works

>Hans Op de Beeck, Location I, 1998.Installation, wood, polystyrene, sand, glue, pvc, plastic, plexi, glass, electronics, frescolithe paint, lamp, 188 x 310 x 260 cm and 320 x 400 x 500 cm.

>Hans Op de Beeck, Insert Coin - Highway Car, 1999.Installation, mdf, speakers, monitors, hard disk, electronics, 140 x 60 x 70 cm, 00:01:30.

>Hans Op de Beeck, Exercising Nowheres 2, 2000.Installation, mdf, primer paint, 2k-spray paint, plexi, metal, maquette 1: 39,5 x 129 x 86,5 cm; pedestal 1: 126,5 x 129 x 80,5 cm; maquette 2: 90 x 150 x 180 cm; pedestal 2: 101,5 x 150x 180 cm; whole work: 193 x 281,5 x 180 cm.