Lecture by Guy Châtel | Narcisse Tordoir – Experiments in Building Images
On Sunday, June 21, 2026, Professor Guy Châtel will delve deeper into Narcisse Tordoir's practice of using the exhibition scale model as a research tool.
For the exhibition Fake Barok, Narcisse Tordoir created a scale model that completely determined the exhibition's scenography. In his practice, he uses the scale model not only to refine exhibition environments, but also as a fully-fledged artistic research tool.
This lecture situates this approach within the context of Tordoir's entire oeuvre. It focuses specifically on the period 1987–1998, during which model-making came to dominate his practice and gave it a completely new direction. An analysis of what was at stake during that time reveals Tordoir's artistic credo: "Everything is painting!"
- On Sunday 21.Jun.26 at 14:00
- In the S.M.A.K. auditorium
- In Dutch
- Free admission with reservation via reservation@smak.be
Biography
Guy Léon Châtel (b. Ghent, 1956) is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of Ghent University.
He publishes on architecture and art in books and journals (including A+, Janus, DW&B, AS, MDD, Architectuurboek Vlaanderen, etc.) and is the author of Architecture as Form of the Real: A Critique of Architecture (Ghent, 2026).
He is the editor and co-author of publications such as Narcisse Tordoir, Labor and Production, 1987-1998 (with Adriaan Verwée, Ghent, 2022) and Luc Deleu – T.O.P. office: Orban Space (with Wouter Davidts and Stefaan Vervoort, Amsterdam, 2012).
He has designed various exhibition scenographies, most recently: Narcisse Tordoir, Labor and Production, 1987-1998 (VANDENHOVE centre, Ghent, 2021 & Roger Raveel Museum, Machelen, 2022); Round About or Inside (VANDENHOVE centre, Ghent, 2022); « Rose, rose, rose à mes yeux » – Ensor and the Still Life in Belgium 1830-1930 (Mu.ZEE, Ostend, 2024–2025); b0b van Reeth, architect and master builder (VANDENHOVE centre, Ghent, 2025)
