Patrick van Caeckenbergh
« Les Adoratoires »
January 8th – February 26th 2005
As a fan of classification methods, genealogy and allegories, Flemish artist Patrick van Caeckenbergh constantly explores the creation of natural systems as well as digestive processes.
The use of both savvy and popular references take center stage in the artist᾿s wizardly attempt to investigate and understand human nature, offering works that are somewhere between handicrafts and collage. Many of the pieces portray subjective creative spaces as a microcosm and organic system, a kind of metaphor for the home.
One work gives rise to the next, and together they form an ensemble where each nurtures the other. In this way, the artist becomes a genealogist of the clan. For the last 20 years, van Caeckenbergh has created his own mythology, “La vie même,” broken down into several parts, each made up of many chapters.
“Les Cathédrales,” title of his second solo show at &: in Situ, is a chapter from “Adoratoires,” part of Stil Geluk (Country Life). The paper and glass structures are highly crafted and fragile. Both their transparency and mobility emphasize the sense of temporary architecture. Each is on the scale of the artists “Lit,” his own cathedral, where everything happens, his own world for reflection. They become metaphors for society᾿s abominations: stupidity, modesty, etc., figures that symbolize humility.
