Biography
KOEN THEYS (°1963. Brussels, Belgium.) was one of the first artists in Belgium to artistically exploit the medium of video in the early 1980s. Productions such as the ambitious video work Diana (1984) and the interpretation of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring der Nibelungen (1984-1989) caused his international breakthrough.
One of Theys’ recurrent practices is to deconstruct art history’s great traditions and icons of our western culture and linking them to contemporary issues. He uses artistic methods like displacement, doubling, morphing… to visually manipulate certain well-known western icons or symbols to the point where they seem to be turning against themselves.
Identity in all its forms is one of the artist’s greatest focus. How people present themselves, what they choose to identify with, how (political) group-identities take over and function as a misguiding safe-haven, how the image of one’s self is the drive behind all ambition… and how all this can be very easily lost.
In his latest work, Diasporalia, which was commissioned by the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp for the Year of the Baroque 2018, Theys thinks about the current refugee crisis. 12 unique refugee beds, complete with personal belongings, made entirely out of bronze.

The sleeping refugees are missing from the scene, and it’s through their absence that we unavoidably reflect upon their identities. We only have the little remnants of a life in transit and our own imagination and empathy to imagine the personalities, feelings and struggles behind them.

 

Theys’ work has been shown all over the world and is part of public collections such as MOMA in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Nouveau Musée in Villeurbanne, the S.M.A.K. in Ghent, the M HKA in Antwerp, the Museum of Modern Art in Brussels, Le Casino in Luxembourg, … and many others.

Works
  • Koen Theys, Groupshow, 2023
    Groupshow, 2023
  • Koen Theys, The Wave, 2023
    The Wave, 2023
  • Koen Theys, A Rebours, 2021
    A Rebours, 2021
  • Koen Theys, Bonfire, 2021
    Bonfire, 2021
  • Koen Theys, Burning Car With Backlight, 2021
    Burning Car With Backlight, 2021
  • Koen Theys, Burning Garbage Bins, 2021
    Burning Garbage Bins, 2021
  • Koen Theys, Burning Tires in the Snow I, 2021
    Burning Tires in the Snow I, 2021
  • Koen Theys, Doctors of Arts, 2021
    Doctors of Arts, 2021
  • Koen Theys, La Révolte d'Or, 2021
    La Révolte d'Or, 2021
  • Koen Theys, The Invisible Hand Going Around the Corner, 2021
    The Invisible Hand Going Around the Corner, 2021
  • Koen Theys, Burning Street II, 2020
    Burning Street II, 2020
  • Koen Theys, Burning Tires I, 2020
    Burning Tires I, 2020
  • Koen Theys, Arabian Nights I, 2018
    Arabian Nights I, 2018
  • Koen Theys, Vase (Blue), 2018
    Vase (Blue), 2018
  • Koen Theys, Serial Drummer Girls, 2015
    Serial Drummer Girls, 2015
  • Koen Theys, Death Fucking Metal - Video, 2014
    Death Fucking Metal - Video, 2014
  • Koen Theys, Stilleven met Appels III, 2010
    Stilleven met Appels III, 2010
  • Koen Theys, The Play, 2001
    The Play, 2001
  • Koen Theys, Chateau Classic, 1997
    Chateau Classic, 1997
  • Koen Theys, Room with a double view, 1997
    Room with a double view, 1997
  • Koen Theys, Judas I, 1994
    Judas I, 1994
  • Koen Theys, Tunnel I, 1994
    Tunnel I, 1994
  • Koen Theys, Whoops!, 1992
    Whoops!, 1992
  • Koen Theys, Kijkgleuf, 1990-2017
    Kijkgleuf, 1990-2017
  • Koen Theys, Vlaamse Leeuw met Bloedpens, 1983
    Vlaamse Leeuw met Bloedpens, 1983
Exhibitions
Art Fairs
Publications
News