Vanhaerents Art Collection at the Tripostal

[kerouac2]

The Vanhaerents Art Collection is one of the largest collections of contemporary art in Belgium, so it was only natural for it to come to the Tripostal in Lille, and the Tripostal has never disappinted me.  What better excuse for me to make a day trip to Lille.  I had to go to the airport to get the discounted Ouigo TGV, but hey, the fare was only 10 euros, and I don't have to pay to go to CDG.  It just took me almost an hour to get there in order to take a 56 minute train trip to Lille.  Of course the best thing is that the Tripostal is wedged between the two Lille train station, Lille Flandres and Lille Europe.  I'm sure that I must have explained this in the past, but the Tripostal building is the old mail sorting centre for Lille.  (Where to they do that now?  In any case, with the huge decline in mail, it must be a lot smaller than this immense 3-storey building.)  Its 6000m² are perfect for most of the shows, which require lots of space.

The current exhibition is titled "Au bout de mes rêves" (To the end of my dreams), and that's all I knew about it, which was perfect.  All of the artworks on display are from the 21st century even though some of the artists were active in the 20th century, but certainly not the ones born in the 1990s.

Anyway, my train arrived at Lille Flandres at 11:00 and I had an entry ticket for 11:00.  I arrived at the Tripostal at 11:04.  There was a small queue to get in because security is back at the moment, with France again being on red alert since the unfortunate events in Israel and Palestine as well as a few nasty events in France.  As usual, this just meant an imaginary look into bags and a bit of wand waving over one's body parts.

Then I was inside and was able to skip the ticket queue.

I appreciated the fact that the public was trusted not to trip over all of the wires holding these things.  There was nothing to stop us from doing so, so it must happen.

[kerouac2]

There were a number of optical items that make you wonder why your yourself are not reflected anywhere, even when you lean into them.













Yes, there were school groups.  I was never taken to a museum in a class situation when I was in school.

[kerouac2]

This lady intrigued me.



I like it when artwork titles are clear and to the point.







This needed to be seen in motion to appreciate it. (Wait for it.)







Some artists' assistants are run through the mill.

[bixaorellana]

Fabulous show -- you must be very pleased, especially since it appears you didn't have to share the time slot with tons of other people.

I want that first bubble thing with the colors for my very own.

The octopus is merely well done until you look again and see that its head is not a head, then it becomes so much more of a work of art. That delicate veining in the "head"!

The first three pieces in reply #1 must be disconcerting to view in person. They are flat, but create the illusion of depth, correct? Any idea what the word(s) in the third one say or mean?

Is the man in the bow tie full sized? I love the piece just below him. Is it enclosed in a glass box & is it as big as it appears in the photo?

The lady with the pets is indeed intriguing.

I shan't be offering to pose with the last artist!

[kerouac2]

Thanks for paying close attention, Bixa. Those optical illusion pieces are always amazing. I was unable to decipher the letter tunnel other than reading BACKICK, which appears to mean nothing (confirmed by Google).

The man in the bow tie is full sized. You will see him in the video. The piece below of a roken mirror or something was just standing there and could even be touched if you had no social skills. When I was little, I could have even touched the Mona Lisa in the Louvre if I had wanted to. And I also saw the Pieta in Saint Peter's in Rome with no protection, which ended in its tragedy. In later years, the world has become weird and all sorts of protections need to be implemented. Luckily, the Tripostal has not yet felt a need to do this.

A quick explanation of the poor people in the previous photos:

















This alternates with a different flash that you will see in the video.

[bjd]

Oct 29, 2023 18:08:58 GMT kerouac2 said:

I was unable to decipher the letter tunnel other than reading BACKICK, which appears to mean nothing (confirmed by Google

I read KICKBACK which is a word.

Interesting exhibit, some of the paintings seem almost classical or at least referring to classic paintings, like the black woman and the servant behind her, while some is really weird like much of the installation art.

[kerouac2]

Ah yes, kickback, of course. It's always interesting how our minds merge letters or not when trying to find words. Of course that's the whole point of a lot of the word games.

[bixaorellana]

What exciting and wonderful variety in this collection. Some of it, such as the metallic mobile, can trigger unease, but it's all compelling. The scale of everything in that huge space makes it even better. I really love those last two paintings, especially the one with the chimp holding the horses.

Oct 29, 2023 18:48:36 GMT bjd said:

I read KICKBACK which is a word.

Once you pointed it out, it's screamingly obvious. You have no idea how many times I looked at it without success.

Paintings which reference images known or semi-known to us really exert a hold on our attention.

[kerouac2]

You can't really see it from this photo, but these cubic plexiglas dogs contained apparently real dog skeletons.







This item was out of order, but apparently, if you kneel in front of one of these and touch its heart, the heart will start beating, and if enough people do it at the same time, the eyes and bodies will light up and everything will beat in unison.  Nice idea, but how often will enough people do that at the same time?











Most of the works in this area, as anybody can imagine, were by Japanese artists.

[bixaorellana]

I can see the dog skeletons!

Oct 29, 2023 21:42:41 GMT kerouac2 said:

if you kneel in front of one of these and touch its heart, the heart will start beating

A coincidence -- about an hour ago I began reading a novel which features characters whose hearts can be seen beating through their chests.

Oct 29, 2023 21:42:41 GMT kerouac2 said:

Most of the works in this area, as anybody can imagine, were by Japanese artists.

Ha ~ that was not my thought! Because the collection is from Belgium and because you & Whatagain have shown Belgian works of art either based on cartoons or which are cartoon-like, my assumption was that the works in that area were by Belgian artists.

[kerouac2]

[kerouac2]

another view of a plexiglas dogs





A lot of this art was from Africa.

There was a film by Matthew Barney, but I was unable to get a good photo. I saw some of his upsettng things at the Guggenheim in New York once. But my mind kept wondering "Matthew Barney, Matthew Barney...I know that name." And then I remembered that he is married to Bjork. This film seemed to be about whaling in Japan.

[bixaorellana]

I am very pleased that you were so trigger happy with your camera at this exhibition! All of the wide shots are wonderful and really give an idea of the scale of the pieces and also a feeling of being there.

[kerouac2]

[kerouac2]

And finally, here is a little video to give a better idea of certain things.

I try to never miss a new exhibition at the Tripostal.

[lugg]

Wow - I am planning to give this thread much e more time...so intriguing. Your photos are fantastic K2 and the art works take me in so many directions as I try to fathom / understand them or discount them. .The image that really makes me want to understand its meaning in particular is no 7 of post 4. Of course it was the horses and their dissimilar riders/ stance / tack that made me look twice

[kerouac2]

One thing that I find great in this sort of exhibition is that it sends your mind in so many different directions. And I didn't even take pictures of everything on display.