The S.M.A.K. has invited the young Belgian artist Philippe Metten (b.1977) to install a site-specific presentation in the Kunst Nu room, the museum’s space for young artists.
Metten’s work arises out of the art of graffiti, the art of the street. The basic material for his imposing sculptures and installations consists of photos of ‘tags’, which he cuts and pastes to create quasi abstract, ethnic-looking motifs in vivid colours. In this way he makes an interesting connection between contemporary street art and ‘primitive’ (animistic) religious art forms. In terms of content, these two elements are two sides of the same coin. The intensely religious and at the same time flashy underground-style attraction of Metten’s images have fundamentally the same origins. After all, both worlds were created to give meaning to the lives of people (and groups of people), and to stimulate a sort of solidarity. Philippe Metten continues down this road in his art too. And this means the opening of the exhibition at the S.M.A.K. will be anything but classical in its approach...
