COLLECTION EXHIBITION AT CLOUD SEVEN
- Until 30.01.2022
Courtesy the Frédéric de Goldschmidt Collection
© Hugard & Vanoverschelde Photography / Regular Studio / Laurent Brandajs
The opening exhibition, titled Inaspettatamente, takes its name from an embroidered artwork by conceptual artist Alighiero Boetti (1940-1994), translating from Italian to unexpectedly. Boetti is known to have challenged notions of authorship and set up processes of delegation, notably through works of political cartography carried out in Afghanistan.
Boetti, very present in the collection, is resurrected in the mind of de Goldschmidt and cocurator Grégory Lang who wondered what he would have made of the current state of the world. The exhibited works were selected through the prism of both the themes of the works and Boetti’s personality, as well as to reflect the diversity and complexity of the collection.
A dialogue emerges from the artist’s practices and fascination for seriality and processes, playing with order and disorder, experimenting with many different modes of production. Many of the collected pieces already echoed several of these axes, either in a direct thematic connection or on a more intuitive level. Among the essential themes, the show gathers artists' works that explore duality and otherness, the position of the artist in the world, with poetical, social and geopolitical commitments, and especially report the state of our uncertain world.
315 artworks will feature, selected across sculpture, painting, video and mixed media, from artists including Cory Arcangel, Kader Attia, Babi Badalov, Mirosław Bałka, Walead Beshty, Carlos Bunga, Hanne Darboven, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Edith Dekyndt, Cristina Garrido, Shilpa Gupta, Hoa Hong, Gabriel Kuri, Richard Long, Jonathan Monk, Roman Opalka, Claudio Parmiggiani, Analia Saban, Tomás Saraceno, Katrín Sigurdardottir, Héctor Zamora.
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Cloud Seven is an exhibition, co-working and residential hub in the heart of Brussels created by collector Frédéric de Goldschmidt as a new home to showcase his extensive private art collection. Officially opening in February 2022, a special preview exhibition drawn from more than 300 works in the collection will open to the public from 11 November 2021 through to 30 January 2022.
Cloud Seven comprises 1,500m2 across seven floors, with works from the Frédéric de Goldschmidt Collection presented throughout the building. The front part, built in the 1820s, includes two private residences, two lofts for short-term stays, co-working spaces, a recording studio/screening room, a bar, and a fully equipped gym. The rear part, built in the 1920s, houses semi-permanent and temporary exhibitions.
Cloud Seven’s art/work dynamic introduces an environment and new contexts for experiencing art that are at the same time both extraordinary and quotidian – a fitting arena for a collection that in many ways addresses a wide variety of means of production and utilitarian materials.
The project brings together many existing ideas and suggests new developments in how we live and work, especially in a post-pandemic era. Members will be invited to work, socialise and relax surrounded by works from the collection and permanent installations from some of the world’s leading artists, including a statement by Lawrence Weiner in the entrance, large panels by Gregor Hildebrandt made of old records found in the attic of the building in the new high tech media room, to Laure Prouvost’s The End of a Dream (2019), a fountain in the shape of a toilet, which premiered at the French Pavilion of the 2019 Venice Biennale and is fittingly installed in the gym’s wellness centre.
By fusing art and work in such a direct way, Frédéric de Goldschmidt is playing with what is possible in both of these seemingly opposing areas of life, as he says:
“Like many people in Brussels, I arrived by chance and settled by choice. I fell in love with the city’s diversity and openness. Here, artists, collectors, gallerists, curators, and art workers alike have opportunities to come together and share their time and knowledge in a supportive, unassuming atmosphere. Cloud Seven is the realisation of my dream to embed the ideas and questions that artists raise into the lives of the city's workforce as they shape the future of our cultural landscape, thoughtfully connecting art with life.”
