{"id":944,"title":"Jos de Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys – Optimundus","date_begin":"2013-02-07T00:00:00.000+01:00","date_end":"2013-05-19T00:00:00.000+02:00","location":{"readable":"Antwerpen","latitude":null,"longitude":null},"assets":{"poster":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/mhka_ensembles_production/assets/public/000/012/982/large/H_J_OPTIMUNDUS_A6_liggend.jpg?1360243760","poster_credits":null},"translations":[{"locale":"en","name":"Jos de Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys – Optimundus","short_description":"","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eOPTIMUNDUS\u003c/em\u003e gave a panoramic overview of the artistic practice of \u003cstrong\u003eJos de Gruyter\u003c/strong\u003e (\u0026deg;1965, Geel) \u0026amp; \u003cstrong\u003eHarald Thys\u003c/strong\u003e (\u0026deg;1966, Wilrijk), and thus brought their unique take on an alternative reality into the arena of an exhibition. The exhibition moved to the Vienna Kunsthalle in early 2014.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe work of de Gruyter and Thys takes a merciless look at reality. By means of videos, installations, drawings, sculptures, performances and photography, the artists convey their interpretation of a parallel world, how it is integrated in the contemporary human psyche and how it manifests itself in everyday life and social conformism. Stories about work, leisure, family, social class, masculinity and marginalization are represented by a cast of non-professional actors, relatives, friends, beards, objects and puppets, often in banal interiors, weighed down by an impaired balance of power.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe work draws on diverse sources of inspiration, ranging from certain key scenes in the films by Fassbinder and Visconti, clandestine reality shows, through to the ever-expanding arsenal of anonymously produced films on YouTube, from \u003cem\u003eRussian Road Rage\u003c/em\u003e to home videos of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe films of de Gruyter and Thys often take place within mental spaces where interpersonal tensions build up and where a distinct sadness in the heart of the exceptional social imagination of both artists is palpable. Yet, the works not only reflect on the major issues of social class and deprivation, they are also obsessive observations of inner processes. The work of de Gruyter and Thys reminds us of an internal logic that is difficult to define that lives within each of us, and which was central in \u003cem\u003eOPTIMUNDUS\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n"},{"locale":"nl","name":"Jos de Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys – Optimundus","short_description":"","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eOPTIMUNDUS\u003c/em\u003e\u0026nbsp;vormde een panorama van de kunstpraktijk van \u003cstrong\u003eJos de Gruyter\u003c/strong\u003e (\u0026deg;1965, Geel) \u0026amp; \u003cstrong\u003eHarald Thys \u003c/strong\u003e(\u0026deg;1966, Wilrijk), en bracht zo hun unieke voorstelling van een alternatieve realiteit in een tentoonstellingsomgeving. De tentoonstelling kreeg in het begin van 2014 een vervolg in Kunsthalle Wien.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eHet werk van de Gruyter \u0026amp; Thys werpt een genadeloze blik op de realiteit. Aan de hand van video\u0026rsquo;s, installaties, tekeningen, sculpturen, performances en fotografie geven de kunstenaars gestalte aan hun verbeelding van een parallelle wereld, hoe die leeft in de hedendaagse menselijke psyche en hoe die zich manifesteert in het alledaagse en in maatschappelijk conformisme. Verhalen rond arbeid, vrije tijd, gezin, sociale klasse, mannelijkheid en marginalisering worden verbeeld door een cast van niet-professionele acteurs, familieleden, vrienden, baarden, objecten en poppen, vaak in banale interieurs, geladen met gestoorde machtsverhoudingen.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eHet werk vindt haar oorsprong in zeer uiteenlopende inspiratiebronnen, gaande van bepaalde sleutelsc\u0026egrave;nes in de films van Fassbinder en Visconti, over clandestiene reality-programma\u0026rsquo;s, het alsmaar groeiende arsenaal van anoniem geproduceerde films op YouTube \u0026ndash; van \u003cem\u003eRussian Road Rage\u003c/em\u003e tot de home video\u0026rsquo;s van de Tsjetsjeense president Ramzan Kadyrov.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eDe films van de Gruyter \u0026amp; Thys spelen zich vaak af binnen mentale ruimten waar intermenselijke spanningen zich opbouwen en waar een uitgesproken somberheid in het hart van de uitzonderlijke maatschappelijke verbeelding van beide kunstenaars voelbaar is. Toch bezinnen de werken niet enkel over de grote vraagstukken van sociale klasse en ontbering, maar zijn ze tevens obsessieve observaties van innerlijke processen. Het werk van de Gruyter \u0026amp; Thys herinnert ons aan een interne, moeilijk te defini\u0026euml;ren logica die binnen ieder van ons leeft, en die centraal stond in\u0026nbsp;\u003cem\u003eOPTIMUNDUS\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n"},{"locale":"fr","name":"Jos de Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys – Optimundus","short_description":"","description":"\u003cp\u003eCommissaire de l\u0026rsquo;exposition: Nav Haq\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eOPTIMUNDUS\u003c/em\u003e\u0026nbsp;a form\u0026eacute; un panorama de la pratique artistique de \u003cstrong\u003eJos de Gruyter\u003c/strong\u003e (\u0026deg;1965, Geel) \u0026amp; \u003cstrong\u003eHarald Thys \u003c/strong\u003e(\u0026deg;1966, Wilrijk), et ainsi elle a pr\u0026eacute;sent\u0026eacute; d\u0026rsquo;une mani\u0026egrave;re unique une r\u0026eacute;alit\u0026eacute; alternative dans un environnement d\u0026rsquo;exposition. Au d\u0026eacute;but de 2014, l\u0026rsquo;exposition a connu une suite \u0026agrave; la Kunsthalle Wien.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eL\u0026rsquo;oeuvre de De Gruyter \u0026amp; Thys porte un regard impitoyable sur la r\u0026eacute;alit\u0026eacute;. Par le biais de vid\u0026eacute;os, installations, dessins, sculptures, performances et photographie, les artistes donnent corps \u0026agrave; leur imagination d\u0026rsquo;un monde parall\u0026egrave;le, \u0026agrave; la mani\u0026egrave;re dont celui-ci vit dans la psych\u0026eacute; humaine contemporaine et se manifeste dans la vie quotidienne et le conformisme social. Des histoires de travail, de loisirs, de famille, de la classe sociale, la virilit\u0026eacute; et la marginalisation sont repr\u0026eacute;sent\u0026eacute;es par un groupe d\u0026rsquo;acteurs non professionnels, compos\u0026eacute;e de membres de la famille, d\u0026rsquo;amis, de barbes, d\u0026rsquo;objets et de marionnettes, souvent dans des int\u0026eacute;rieurs banals, charg\u0026eacute;s de rapports de force troubl\u0026eacute;s.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eL\u0026rsquo;\u0026oelig;uvre s\u0026rsquo;inspire de sources tr\u0026egrave;s diverses, allant de certaines sc\u0026egrave;nes-cl\u0026eacute;s des films de Fassbinder et de Visconti, \u0026agrave; des \u0026eacute;missions de t\u0026eacute;l\u0026eacute;r\u0026eacute;alit\u0026eacute; clandestines, en passant par l\u0026rsquo;arsenal intarissable de films produits anonymement et post\u0026eacute;s sur YouTube \u0026ndash; de \u003cem\u003eRussian Road Rage\u003c/em\u003e \u0026agrave; des vid\u0026eacute;os amateurs du pr\u0026eacute;sident tch\u0026eacute;tch\u0026egrave;ne Ramzan Kadyrov.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eLes films de De Gruyter \u0026amp; Thys se d\u0026eacute;roulent souvent dans des espaces mentaux o\u0026ugrave; les tensions interpersonnelles s\u0026rsquo;accumulent et o\u0026ugrave; une m\u0026eacute;lancolie explicite au c\u0026oelig;ur des repr\u0026eacute;sentations soci\u0026eacute;tales exceptionnelles des deux artistes est perceptible. Pourtant, leurs \u0026oelig;uvres ne r\u0026eacute;fl\u0026eacute;chissent pas uniquement aux grandes questions relatives \u0026agrave; la classe sociale et \u0026agrave; la privation, mais elles constituent \u0026eacute;galement des observations obsessives de processus int\u0026eacute;rieurs. L\u0026rsquo;\u0026oelig;uvre de De Gruyter \u0026amp; Thys nous rappelle une logique int\u0026eacute;rieure, difficile \u0026agrave; d\u0026eacute;finir, que chacun de nous porte en soi et qui est a jou\u0026eacute; un r\u0026ocirc;le central dans \u003cem\u003eOPTIMUNDUS.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n"},{"locale":"ru","name":null,"short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"de","name":null,"short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"es","name":null,"short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"el","name":null,"short_description":"","description":""}],"actors":[{"id":1705,"name":"Jos De Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys","assets":{"poster":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/mhka_ensembles_production/assets/public/000/013/620/large/doublePortrait.jpg?1358869072","poster_credits":"(c)Jos De Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys"}}],"items":[{"id":4234,"title":"Das Loch [The Hole]","date_begin":"2010-01-01","poster_image":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/mhka_ensembles_production/assets/public/000/009/717/large/De_Gruyter___Thys_Das_Loch.jpg?1340281187","poster_credits":null,"actors":"Jos De Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys"},{"id":4238,"title":"Ten Weyngaert","date_begin":"2007-01-01","poster_image":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/mhka_ensembles_production/assets/public/000/009/718/large/De_Gruyter___Thys_Ten_Weyngaert.jpg?1340281351","poster_credits":"(c)Jos De Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys","actors":"Jos De Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys"},{"id":6121,"title":"Les énigmes de Saarlouis [The Riddles of Saarlouis]","date_begin":"2012-01-01","poster_image":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/mhka_ensembles_production/assets/public/000/012/986/large/Video_still_2.jpg?1350891585","poster_credits":null,"actors":"Jos De Gruyter \u0026 Harald Thys"},{"id":6124,"title":"Het Fregat [The 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