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Item: Happy Sad

2023

Installation, 100 x 100 cm.
Materials: neon

Collection: Stad Antwerpen, in langdurige bruikleen in M HKA (Inv. no. SCA0067).

The work of Daan Gielis (b. 1988, Holsbeek — d. 2023) explores the emotional, communicative, and social systems that underpin the world we live in. He started from his own experience to record conflicting feelings that reinforce each other. His work reminds us that there are no easy solutions. For Happy Sad, Gielis references emoji signs, a recurring theme in his work. Emojis have become a fixture of our online conversations, symbolising the paradox in our social interaction: our attempt to share a highly personal story using a highly generic sign system. In Happy Sad, happiness and sadness coincide.

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The City Collection: IN/S...
16 May 2024 - 06 January 2025.
The City Collection Antwerp is a dynamic initiative that aims to provide insight into Antwerp’s diverse contemporary art scene. Reflecting th

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Daan Gielis
Daan Gielis: ‘twixt life and death Belgian mixed-media artist Daan Gielis (b. 1988, Beringen – Leuven, d. 2023) studied printmaking in Hass

About M HKA / Mission Statement

The M HKA is a museum for contemporary art, film and visual culture in its widest sense. It is an open place of encounter for art, artists and the public. The M HKA aspires to play a leading role in Flanders and to extend its international profile by building upon Antwerp's avant-garde tradition. The M HKA bridges the relationship between artistic questions and wider societal issues, between the international and the regional, artists and public, tradition and innovation, reflection and presentation. Central here is the museum's collection with its ongoing acquisitions, as well as related areas of management and research.

About M HKA Ensembles

The M HKA Ensembles represent our first steps towards initiating the public to today's art-related digital landscape. With the help of these new media, our aim is to offer our artworks a better and fuller array of support for their presentation and public understanding.