Etre moderne brings together the early work of furniture artist Casimir from the 1990s.
A period in which craft-based furniture design was the exception, and in which there was hardly any support for designers who wanted to go their own way. Anyone who wanted to develop a personal, idiosyncratic formal language had, above all, to build it themselves with perseverance, curiosity and conviction.
That idiosyncrasy is still palpable in Casimir's work today.
His designs move along the thin line between furniture and object. They look familiar, yet always take an unexpected turn. With a healthy dose of confusion, Casimir plays with form, function and meaning. The result is work that resists easy definition and that keeps intriguing precisely for that reason.
For me, that first encounter with his work also had a very personal sequel. During my studies I did an internship with Casimir. I came away with more than work experience alone: it is also where I met my wife.
Ever since, I have kept following and collecting his work. Not an obvious search. The pieces surface only rarely, and of some designs only a handful were ever made. What became scattered over the years now comes together again for the first time.
This exhibition is not a full retrospective. It is rather a look back at the beginning of an oeuvre: a selection from my own collection, complemented by pieces from the gallery. For a brief moment, this early work shares a place again, to be looked at, discovered, and perhaps carried along into a new story.
Come and see, discover Casimir's work, and experience this special collection while it is still together.
Vernissage za 24 okt, 19-22u
za 24 okt & zo 25 okt (11-18u)
za 31 okt & zo 1 nov (14-18u)
za 7 nov & zo 8 nov (14-18u)
za 31 okt & zo 1 nov (14-18u)
za 7 nov & zo 8 nov (14-18u)
Diepenbekerweg 70C, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium