CURRENT

PETER LEMMENS
March 11 – April 24, 2010

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For the first time, Peter Lemmens (Mechelen 1975) shows his work in Galerie van der Mieden. Earlier, he already exhibited in Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Galerie Micheline Szwajcer in Antwerp, MAC’s Museum in Grand Hornu, Verbeke Foundation in Kemzeke, at Liste Basel and Frieze in London. This exhibition shows 3 video installations, photo work and an installation mounted on the wall. However, it’s not about multimedia art, photography or video. Peter Lemmens looks at these art forms purely as instruments, as if you would look at a normal hammer. It’s a simple, practical and useful object, but you can’t ‘understand’ a hammer. You can only understand what its purpose is, which becomes clear when someone knocks a nail into a wall. With his work, Peter Lemmens knocks nails into walls. It doesn’t matter whether you understand the work itself, because it wants us to have an insight into another matter. Peter Lemmens gives us the opportunity to become active, not just passively look and listen. He wants us to filter the big picture out of the different parts by taking part actively. Lemmens draws his inspiration from information. With help from the internet and search robots, we have access to virtually everything. But it’s not about the computer and its hard disk, neither is it about the film and its music. Lemmens extracts from these films, computer screens and hard disks what is actually in them, even though that may not be their purpose. Due to the multitude of images, carriers, sounds and fragments in his work, you lose knowledge, you don’t exactly know what to look at or focus on. Instead of an insight, it offers inspiration and inspiration makes us build up things not merely undergo them. If you get engrossed into his work, you will receive his inspiration, which you will be able to use yourself.