Chantal Akerman – Too Far, Too Close

Event

M HKA, Antwerpen

09 February 2012 - 20 May 2012

The M HKA organized the very first major European retrospective of Chantal Akerman (°1950 - †2015), artist and one of the most influential filmmakers of her generation. 

Besides her monumental reputation in the field of feminist and film critique, Akerman played a crucial role in the gradual merger between 'conventional' cinema and installation art that is akin to the moving image. Since the early 90s, Akerman alternated between both areas: mainstream or arthouse films, such as A Couch in New York (1996) and La Captive (2000), on the one hand, and experimental quasi-documentaries like Là-bas (2006) or video installations like D'Est (1993), on the other.

The significance of Akerman's work is not only formal, but also closely linked to its programmatic research on biography, gender, identity and memory - all framed in a ground-breaking exploration of modest aesthetics of everyday life

Chantal Akerman. Too Far, Too Close highlighted the many stresses in her multifaceted work. The exhibition spanned a forty-year career in film and related media, starting with the timeless declaration of intent Saute ma ville (1968) and concluding with Maniac Summer, an installation dating from 2009. She brought a balanced mix of straightforward experimental film work, such as Hotel Monterey (1972) or La Chambre (1972) and more complex, ambitious installations, such as Marcher à côté de ses lacets dans une frigidaire vide (2004) or the emblematic D’Est (1993). 
 

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