KETELEER GALLERY is very pleased to present One Thing Leads to Another, a solo exhibition by Philippe Van Wolputte (°1982, Antwerp, BE). Van Wolputte’s second solo exhibition with the gallery will consist of a new series of photographic compositions, a recapitulation of the documentation he made from all the interventions he performed in public space between 2005 and 2020 which resulted in a sort of visual logbook – a witness to his transitory explorations and proposals. Just like with his site-specific interventions, only this time using a two-dimensional carrier, he takes us on a mental journey through deserted, decayed spaces and the projects which emerged from them.

Since 2005, Philippe Van Wolputte has been very productive in exploring urban landscapes, staging and recording performances and interventions and building installations in various galleries and museums. Prior to his formal education, his focus was already set on what is still the main topic of his artistic explorations: abandoned, forgotten, but most of all devalued urban locations awaiting demolition as they no longer serve a purpose in the current economical/utilitarian hierarchy. Sometimes he reclaims these sites by repurposing them as Temporary Penetrable Exhibition Spaces (T.P.E.S.) or by marking them with his distinct grid while other times he re-uses and re-activates them by opening up new pathways through what appeared to be nearly fossilized, inert spaces.

By documenting these actions (via photography and video recordings) he takes us on a journey where it is unclear where we are going or what we are looking for while reminding us of the strong associative effect architecture has on us. Crawling through dark corridors, breaking through walls, inhaling the dust of the past, … makes it all very clear, these places haven’t completely died yet. Their silence, on the contrary, bears witness to the innumerable voices of lives and realities passed.

Philippe Van Wolputte is currently part of the group exhibition Lipstick and Gas Masks, a presentation of new acquisitions for “The City Collection” of M HKA. On view till 18 April, 2021.

He exhibited in numerous galleries and institutions across the world including: M HKA, Antwerp (BE) – Anthology Film Archives, New York (USA) – Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn (EST) – SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin (DE) – CAB, Brussels (BE) – Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Paris (FR) – Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (CH) – Dialect Kunstverein, Stuttgart (DE) – Be-Part, Waregem (BE).