Paul Hendrikse guides us through the TO THE POINT exhibition in his own way

Brussels, 18 February 2014

At the presentation of the exhibition "To The Point: The Neo-Impressionist portrait, 1886-1904" in Brussels, the Dutch artist Paul Hendrikse, who lives in Antwerp and Berlin, gives a contemporary perspective, at the invitation of ING, through three video works created for the occasion.

The Peacock Walk (Wise Up Ghost), 2014

This work was produced at the Villa Robinson in the village of Ambleteuse, located to the south of Calais in France. This holiday home, which belongs to the family of the Belgian Georges Flé, was the meeting point for several emblematic figures of the French and Belgian artistic community, including writers and painters. Notably, Théo Van Rysselberghe realised several works there including "La Promenade" (1901), which depicts four women walking along the coast. These women were also recognised by the artistic community of the era, and were christened "the Peacocks." They organised exhibitions and invited musicians and writers.
The artist Paul Hendrikse invited two actors, Wanda Eyckerman and Sid Van Oerle to the set that is this house in order to stage poses from historical photographs and works by Théo Van Rysselberghe. Thus the actors played the role of the subject or the object somewhere between reality and illusion, like figures unaffected by the passing of time.

The Room of Emile Verhaeren, 2014

Here, Paul Hendrikse's choice was of one of the most prominent figures of the Belgian artistic scene at the turn of the 20th century, Émile Verhaeren. A writer and literary critic, he is regarded as one of the most important originators of progressive ideas in a rapidly evolving society.
Émile Verhaeren's widow donated all the books and works that were found in his office at Saint-Cloud, near Paris, to the “Archives et Musées de la Littérature” in Brussels. His office has been completely reconstructed there. Closed to the public, Paul Hendrikse filmed it under different lighting.  As in Neo-Impressionist works, light plays a subtle yet essential role here. Intellectual work and the working space were also an evocative leitmotif at the beginning of the century, as Virginia Woolf wrote in her essay "A Room of One's Own".

Looking While Listening (Title, Address, Dedication), 2014

The work is based on the painting "Une Lecture" [The Reading] (1903) by Théo Van Rysselberghe, which shows a group of artist friends listening to Émile Verhaeren. The latter is reading a text, but we see him from the back, and it is the people who are listening that attract attention. Listening, a notion that has lost its importance today, is the central subject of this video work. In the same way as the people in the Van Rysselberghe tableau seem to be listening with their entire bodies, through the actor-performers Paul Hendrikse stages listening as an activity in itself.
Shooting took place in the "Boekentoren" at the University of Ghent, a work by the architect Henry Van de Velde who was connected to the group of artists depicted in "Une Lecture". Paul Hendrikse's film is accompanied by a soundtrack, which is based on readings of philosophical texts and where attention is focused on listening.

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