Hans/Jean Arp & Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Friends, Lovers, Partners / Love is Louder

Bozar, Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, opens two new exhibitions this autumn: a two-person show of the iconic couple Hans/Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and a group exhibition exploring love through the eyes of 80 contemporary artists.  

Hans/Jean Arp & Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Friends, Lovers, Partners
September 20, 2024–January 19, 2025 

Hans/Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp were pioneers of abstraction and one of the most important artist couples of the 20th-century.  

Throughout their careers, both artists challenged the hierarchies between the applied and fine arts. Not only are their individual creations remarkable, but also the works they realised together, from their first meeting in 1915 until Taeuber-Arp’s early death in 1943. While during her lifetime she met with international recognition and commercial success, Taeuber-Arp’s legacy was overshadowed by Arp’s in the decades following her death, despite his attempts to the contrary. It is only in recent years that Taeuber-Arp’s importance has been recognised by institutions and art historians. This exhibition presents the two artists as equals, tracing the development of their practices as friends, lovers and partners. 

The diversity of Arp and Taeuber-Arp’s work – including painting, sculpture, textiles, design and poetry – keeps them relevant to this day. This exhibition features a precise selection of collages, drawings, designs, illustrated books, jewellery, paintings, photographs, reliefs, sculptures and textile works. It is a rare opportunity to discover Taeuber-Arp’s colourful and geometric abstract work alongside Arp’s biomorphic forms, collages and sculptures. And it connects their work to the tumultuous times through which they lived. 

Curated by Walburga Krupp. Hans/Jean Arp & Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Friends, Lovers, Partners is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue co-published by Bozar Books and Mercatorfonds.  

Love is Louder. 80 artists look at love from the late ‘60s to today
October 12, 2024–January 5, 2025 

Love is Louder  explores the many facets of love, its tensions, and its various forms. Navigating between the personal and the political, the exhibition is structured around three dimensions of love: romantic love, kinship and friendship, and love in a broader social context. With works made between the Summer of Love of 1967 and today, the exhibition reveals how in the last 50 years we have moved beyond traditional images of the couple or the nuclear family, to increasingly recognise the importance of friendships and chosen families. Taking its title from a work by Sam Durant, it also examines the revolutionary potential of love as a basis for building a new society. 

In times of increasing polarization, the exhibition focuses on what connects us, because Love is Louder.  

Featuring:  Marina Abramović & Ulay, Mounira Al Solh, Nevin Aladağ, Helena Almeida, Janine Antoni, Iván Argote, Evelyne Axell, Mahesh Baliga, Ruth-Marion Baruch, Elke Andreas Boon, Kasper Bosmans, Louise Bourgeois, Adriana Bravo, James Lee Byars, Laura Cemin, Patty Chang, Tony Cokes, Rob Crosse, Karolina Ćwik, Joëlle Dubois, Sam Durant, Tracey Emin, Cerith Wyn Evans, Valie Export, Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard, Dara Friedman, Lara Gasparotto, General Idea, Agnès Geoffray, Jeffrey Gibson, Nan Goldin, Kyriaki Goni, Félix González-Torres, Donna Gottschalk, Johan Grimonprez, Sunil Gupta, Sophie Harris-Taylor, Sharon Hayes, Camille Henrot, Nathanaëlle Herbelin, Sam Hultin, Dorothy Iannone, Christian Jankowski, Tommy Kha, Mahmoud Khaled, Deana Lawson, Hippolyte Leibovici, Pixy Liao, Ariane Loze, Anna Maria Maiolino, Eugenio Merino, Marta Minujín, Omar Mismar, Tracey Moffatt, Bruce Nauman, Everlyn Nicodemus, Yoko Ono & John Lennon, Catherine Opie, Ornaghi & Prestinari, Éva Ostrowska, Maria Papadimitriou, Fernando Marques Penteado, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Shannon Plumb, Wilfredo Prieto, Rosângela Rennó, Ulrike Rosenbach, Niki de Saint Phalle, Margaret Salmon, Carolee Schneemann, Julianne Swartz, Apolonia Sokol, Melati Suryodarmo, Diana Tamane, Gert & Uwe Tobias, Philippe Vandenberg, D’Angelo Lovell Williams. 

Curated by Emma Dumartheray, Zoë Gray, Anamaría Pazmiño, Maïté Smeyers, Christel Tsilibaris. Love is Louder is accompanied by a season of programmes exploring love across dance, cinema, music, literature and video games. Bozar also presents a performative installation Le Pavilion des Amours (aka PAV.LOV.) by Laëtitia Badaut-Haussmann.