Nel Verbeke – Embrace Melancholy
9. 2. – 15. 4. 2017
Gallery Roehrs & Boetsch is pleased to present Nel Verbeke's first solo exhibition 'Embrace Melancholy'.
Could melancholy - that indefinite, essentially autonomous state of mind, with no apparent cause - still be sought after and longed for within the meaning of how we currently organize our life and living?
Nel Verbeke's Embrace Melancholy works are the result of discrepancies between observations of current tendencies, revealing a dominance of the aspiration towards constant happiness and self-control, and research on historical perceptions, where moments seized with emotion were seen as something desirable that were sought for their bittersweetness and intensity.
Within Nel Verbeke's ethereal renderings of the domestic space - as an artificial environment or private stage - we can set out in deliberate pursuit of the emotional state, enter it and explore it in all of its dimensions and textures. The included objects are, as such, proto-instruments; potential tools that provide a physical, tangible catalyst. They interrupt our day-to-day behaviour, deconstruct our focus on utility and urge us to leave it all behind, albeit temporarily. The deeds they evoke are autonomous thoughts that guide us towards contemplation.
The exhibition 'Embrace Melancholy' features a unique site-specific rendering of the domestic space including several new objects / works developed in the context of this exhibition plus some key works from previous years.
