MuseoMag: MuseoMag 2023_02

MuseoMag 2023_02

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Title:: MuseoMag

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Title:: MuseoMag 2023_02

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Title:: A fresh look at our Steichen collection: "The artist's view" - A new show curated by Erwin Olaf and Hans Op de Beeck

8 museomag 02 ‘ 2023 A FRESH LOOK AT OUR STEICHEN COLLECTION “THE ARTIST’S VIEW” – A NEW SHOW CURATED BY ERWIN OLAF AND HANS OP DE BEECK Erwin Olaf and Hans Op de Beeck were invited to curate a selection of photographs for our Steichen Cabinet. How do you select just 20 photographs from a collection of almost 200? This is the challenge that the museum faces every three months when we curate a selection of prints to show in our Steichen Cabinet; a space dedicated to the work of the famous Luxembourg- born photographer. For conservation reasons, we need to swap out the light-sensitive prints on a regular basis, some of which date back to the 1910s and 1920s. Each show is designed to illustrate a different facet of Steichen’s work, which ranges from portrayals of the stars of his time to more intimate family portraits, from lyrical landscapes to rare experiments with colour. This time round, we invited Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf and Belgian visual artist Hans Op de Beeck to guest curate a selection of prints in the Steichen cabinet for us, offering a new way into this fascinating collection of historical prints. Staged as part of their joint exhibition Inspired by Steichen, on show until 11 June, the two artists brought their unique perspective to bear on our extensive collection. The resulting show opened on 7 March in presence of one of the guest curators, Hans Op de Beeck, and our resident fine arts curator Ruud Priem. “WE VERY EASILY FOUND COMMON GROUND” Interestingly, the two artists were often drawn to the same pieces when choosing the works for the show. As Ruud Priem notes, “They each have a unique way of seeing the world, but they often pick up on the same things.” This is also evident in the Inspired by Steichen show, which draws attention to the parallels in Hans Op de Beeck’s and Erwin Olaf’s practices. As Hans points out: “We were producing very similar images – the idea of floating, being adrift and the unknown seemed to preoccupy us both”. He adds that: “We very easily found common ground to make the selection for the Steichen Cabinet”. © éric chenal

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