Hell’O Monsters – Free Us!
27th June – 30th August 2009
Curator: Pierre-Olivier Rollin
Jardin d’Hiver du Domaine de Mariemont
Chaussée de Mariemont, 100
7140 Morlanwelz, Belgium
Sundays and holidays, from 9.00 to 19.00
As part of the 7th ARTour Biennial, the contemporary creation space B.P.S.22 is presenting a Hell’O Monsters installation at the Winter Garden in the Domaine de Mariemont, from 27th June to 30th August. For this project, the group of artists have created a series of hybrid characters in vinyl form and attached them to the windows of the immense glasshouse, built ca. 1850 but now no longer used. Only visible from the exterior, the crazy monsters from the world of pop and fiction in the Hell’O Monsters exhibition appear to have been imprisoned in the winter garden.
The formal universe of the Hell’O Monsters group is made up of colourful monsters, which are formed and re-formed as their adventures dictate. Both similar and yet so different from us, these creatures embody our fantasies, as conveyed by the artists in a both amusing and caustic manner. The not so dangerous monsters are seen in numerous contexts but are never passive; they have adventures which the artists recount in each of their productions.
The narrative frameworks are precise and abundant; that of the winter garden in the Domaine de Mariemont is just one of them. Printed on self-adhesive vinyl and invading all the glazed surfaces, these imaginary beings, evoked through the characteristically eloquent lines and graphic fantasy of Hell’O Monsters, are trapped in this deliberately enclosed architecture, which invites the visitor to open the door and let them free. But their metaphorical release is primarily our own. For these imaginary monsters resemble the horde of their predecessors. Like their ancestors, they embody the fears and desires of the humans who created them. The whole range of fears and desires which children feel so intensely when confronted with the vast world that they are constantly discovering.
A production from the B.P.S.22 contemporary creation space in the Province of Hainaut, with the support of the Directorate General of Cultural Affairs in Hainaut, in collaboration with the gallery think.21, the Royal Museum in Mariemont and the Cultural Centre of the Central Region.
Contacts and information:
B.P.S.22 space for contemporary creation
22, boulevard Solvay
6000 Charleroi, Belgium
Phone: 00 32 71 27 29 71
Fax: 00 32 71 27 29 70
Address of the Hell’O Monsters installation:
Jardin d’Hiver – Domaine de Mariemont
Chaussée de Mariemont, 100
7140 Morlanwelz, Belgium
