Z33

Frederic Geurts – (un)balanced

The work of Frederic Geurts exist Geurts’ work consists of monumental, yet very fragile structures, in which the artist goes to the extreme in exploring the boundaries of gravity and the materialness of the constructions.

Frederic Geurts’ solo exhibition will consist of new installations scaled to the available spaces at Z33. As a complement to the exhibition, there is a ‘cabinet’ of Associations designed by Rik De Boe and Peter Morrens of (the) Voorkamer in Lier. Freely associating with Geurts’ artistic exploration they present works by scientists, old masters, and contemporary artists.

Every year, Z33 gives one artist the opportunity to produce a first large solo exhibition. The choice goes to an artist with roughly a 10-year track record, ready for a jump to the big scene.

This year, artist Frederic Geurts was selected. Geurts’ work consists of monumental, yet very fragile structures, in which the artist goes to the extreme in exploring the boundaries of gravity and the materialness of the constructions. One of his works was exhibited earlier at Z33. For Super! in 2006, he created an impressive sculpture in the art centre’s garden.

Frederic Geurts’ solo exhibition will consist of new installations scaled to the available spaces at Z33. Frederic Geurts: “I can’t make something in a void. I need a context. I like to interact with the surroundings. Both the spatial aspects and the significance of the space are important in this respect. In this sense I am more a designer. The way an architect is given a tender to work from is how I create a programme for myself.

For Z33 I wanted to work on the subject of the unstable. Perhaps because the architecture is so stately here? I went in search of the tipping moment, the (moment of) almost falling over. In one or the other way you can find this in all of the works in the exhibition: explicitly so as in the aluminium pane or the structure with galvanised steel wires. Perhaps less obvious in the dance video, but it’s still there. Hence the title for the exhibition: (un)balanced.”

Aside from the large works Frederic Geurts has created especially for Z33, there are a number of smaller works in the exhibition which pull the exhibit out of its isolation and place it in a larger perspective. “The whole exhibition is one big story. Next to my sculptures I place what you could call measuring instruments in the side areas. I present a sundial to remind us of the fact that we are orbiting the sun. I also show an axle placed parallel to the earth to point out that we are standing at an angle to that axle. This makes verticality something very relative.”

As a complement to the exhibition, there is a ‘cabinet’ of Relations designed by Rik De Boe and Peter Morrens of (the) Voorkamer in Lier. Freely associating with Geurts’ artistic exploration they present works by scientists, old masters, and contemporary artists such as Bas Jan Ader, Piranesi en Johannes Kepler.