M HKA Ensembles

° 1959

Born in Knokke (Belgium), lives in Luik (Belgium), lives in Paris (France).

Artist Patrick Corillon does not call himself a sculptor or a painter, but rather a 'plasticien'.  He studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Liège, and has exhibited since 1984.  His oeuvre is very coherent, and consists of sculptures and installations with texts that call into question the relationship between art, the world and language.

Corillon often presents art in the form of signage: inscriptions and street signs provide explanative information pertaining to all manner of situations and persons.  Often they relate pseudo-historical events and biographical anecdotes from the lives of famous artists like Brancusi or Delacroix, for example.  Corillon creates poetic, absurd and tragic tales, and situates them within a context where they risk becoming believable.  Knowledge makes way for fiction, and instead of speaking of 'reality' the dialogue shifts to the fantasy around reality.  Here, the viewer plays an important role.  The fantasized situation, taken to the level of the absurd, blends imperceptively into the viewer's everyday reality.

The art works themselves are quite disparate.  They are fitted to walls, public monuments, plinths (even to tree trunks), and are in various forms and materials.  The anecdotes that are told exercise an influence upon the venue where they are situated.  They have a power over the surroundings and shape the place with a story.

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