Chloé Op de Beeck, However, 2019. HD video and sound.

Lou Masduraud, Fontaines (I-VIII), 2023. Copper oxidized with pickle slices, oyster pearls, marble, tuffo, shells, rhinestones, painted wood, pumping systems, water.

Sophie Nys, Frottage, 2019. Frottage and urine on paper.

Kasia Fudakowski, Watch what you say, 2019-24. Clap sensor, microphone, water tank, water, sensor operated valve, electrical circuit, water.

Aline Bouvy, Potential for Shame, 2022. Jesmonite.

Zoe Williams, Fondant desires (piss in boots) nightstand/Tuberose obscenity chamber pot/Vice’s hand mirror and Fondant golden shower of Baubo mirror, 2023.

Zoe Williams, Fondant desires (piss in boots) nightstand/Tuberose obscenity chamber pot/Vice's hand mirror, 2023, Glazed ceramics, obsidian dildo, polaroid prints, scented flowers.

Zoe Williams, Fondant flesh lick mirror, 2023, Gl.azed ceramic with platinum lustre.

Zoe Williams, Sunday Fantasy, 2019. HD video and sound.

Paula Siebra, Fonte, Filtro de Louça, Lua na Lagoa, all 2023. Oil on canvas.

Paula Siebra, Fonte, 2023. Oil on canvas.

Paula Siebra, Filtro de Louça, 2023. Oil on canvas.

Paula Siebra, Lua na Lagoa, 2023. Oil on canvas.

David Bernstein, Hammama’s Boy, 2019. Wooden tub, plastic balls.

Anita Esfandiari, Fountain n°4, 2021-24. Bricks, ceramic, sound.

Anita Esfandiari, Fountain n°3, 2021. Ceramics, plates.

Anita Esfandiari, Fountain n°1, 2021. Ceramics, wood, metal,

Jay Tan, Soap Berries at Scholar’s Rock, 2021.

Jay Tan, Soap Berries at Scholar’s Rock, 202

Anita Esfandiari, Gave to the Cypress a rosy shade of the redbud and to the tulip gave the stature of a Bambusae, 2023.

Virginia Overton, Untitled (cascade), 2020. Ladders, painted aluminium, steel drum, Uni-strut, water, pump, hose, sandbags and hardware.

Sophie Nys, Frottage, 2019. Frottage and urine on paper.

The Fountain Show

Kunsthal Mechelen, 2024

With works by David Bernstein, Aline Bouvy, Anita Esfandiari, Kasia Fudakowski, Lou Masduraud, Sophie Nys, Chloé Op de Beeck, Virginia Overton, Paula Siebra, Jay Tan and Zoe Williams.

Fountains control the movement and cycle of water. We are surrounded by mundane structures that move water, often hidden from sight: pumps, pipes and sewage systems. By contrast, a fountain is visible and exuberant: it can stimulate, delight, and stir the erotic. In this exhibition, the fountain becomes a space to transform dreams and desires into a dripping, spattering, sparkling form.

Fountains have given people pleasure since ancient times, across civilisations and cultures. The Ancient Romans venerated water and delighted in its appearance and its movement through an unseen power. The Persian rulers of the Middle Ages built elaborate fountains in their palaces and gardens to represent paradise as described in the Qu’ran. King Louis XIV of France employed fountains at Versailles as a visual representation of his dominance over nature. In the 19th century, fountains became part of civic infrastructures, providing clean drinking water to urban populations and thereby becoming important meeting places – akin to the contemporary cliché of the office water cooler where news and gossip is spread. Today, fountains mostly serve a decorative purpose, but remain in public spaces and private gardens.

“The Fountain Show” looks at the fountain as an artistic object. In 1917, Marcel Duchamp created the most famous ‘fountain’ in Western art history, the readymade urinal (1917). The work, simply titled Fountain, played with the art historical symbolism of the decorative fountain and overturned previous ideas of what makes art. The works gathered in this exhibition stand in a long line of fountains that have been depicted or designed by artists and asks what the fountain stands for today.

Photography: Lavinia Wouters

View and download the exhibition guide with texts for each artwork here.

As part of “The Fountain Show”, I also organised “The Fountain Talks”, a day of talks around the fountain. For more information, click here.