Open M | Hidden in plain sight
M Leuven, 2024With works by Koen Barra, Eva Claus, Arthur Cordier, An Devroe, Hanne Geerinckx, Irma Maria Marcel Janssens, Maaike Beckx, Sigurrós G. Björnsdóttir, Bart Hendrickx, Katelijne Laroy, Carla Meertens and Delphine Somers.
The exhibition brings together twelve artists whose works are rooted in their everyday surroundings. They transform ordinary objects and situations into extraordinary artworks that speak to the more fundamental, profound, and mysterious aspects of life.
Mousetraps, supermarket receipts, crooked nails, and empty driveways transcend their banality and provoke contemplation of the subtle nuances and hidden depths embedded in the fabric of daily life. The environments we encounter in these works have murky borders and are resistant to cliché: they are domestic, but not cosy; urban, but not cosmopolitan; rural, but not pastoral.
Artists Koen Barra, Eva Claus, Arthur Cordier, An Devroe, Hanne Geerinckx and Irma Maria Marcel Janssens speak to the ways in which the marginal shapes individual and communal identity. They take an analytical approach, elevating commonly overlooked objects and imbuing them with meaning. Maaike Beckx, Sigurrós G. Björnsdóttir, Bart Hendrickx, Katelijne Laroy, Carla Meertens and Delphine Somers incorporate fantastical elements into the quotidian to create new dream-like worlds.
Open M gives visual artists with a link to the wider region of Leuven the opportunity to show their work in the museum galleries. Guest curator Brenda Guesnet selected the presented works out of 390 open call submissions.
Just like this exhibition is an invitation to meet lesser-known artists with a connection to the wider region of Leuven, the artworks invite all of us to make new discoveries without venturing far from our own doorstep.
Photography: Dominique Provost for M Leuven