03/08/2021
A sculpture in 500 pieces
At 6 pm on 26 January, artist Conrad Willems presented his latest work during the Truc Troc art show in the Bozar fine arts centre. ‘Construction IV’ is a modular structure based on the traditional wooden building blocks that children play with, enlarged and converted from wood to stone in reference to classical architecture. Conrad will build the work live during the vernissage.
The structure is built of blocks of white Borreze stone, stacked up very carefully without any means of adhesion on the basis of a drawing providing very specific instructions.
‘Construction IV’ marks the first time the artist has worked with the natural stone company Potier Stone.
Production started in early January: a total of 500 blocks in 10 different shapes were sawn to order in the Potier Stone workshop. The cubes, bars, prisms and bridges totalled 1,240 kg of natural stone. After a trial set-up in the workshop, at the start of January the blocks were packed in crates, ready for the première in Brussels.
A solo exhibition of Conrad Willems’ work is also planned in May at Atelier Jespers, a well-known base in the Brussels art world. Other work by Conrad will be on display alongside Construction IV in this superb location, designed by Victor Bourgeois – considered by many to be the greatest Belgian modernist. Save the date.
Conrad Willems (1983) is a visual artist who creates both drawings and sculptures. He grew up in Ostend and he lives and works in Ghent. The basic principles of his work are geometry, repetition and modularity. This results in a unique visual language that links his visual work and drawing.
Photos Cedric Verhelst
More info:
www.conradwillems.com
www.tructroc.be
www.atelierjespers.com