Exhibition

Hypermarket

210319 Hypermarket Kunsthal Gent

The term 'hyper' is related to the theory of Jean Baudrillard, which states that reality has become a hyper-reality of itself. The theory assumes a mediatised reality in which the original has been lost.

The distinction between high and low art no longer concerns an aesthetic judgment. Only the context is still decisive. Thus, what is placed within the institution is automatically a (forced) part of the higher culture experience.

The value of art is now no longer related to its cultural relevance but depends on both its initial value and its predicted value. The value is influenced by the market, the media and the institutional mechanisms.

Within the exhibition hypermarket, we ask the question whether the institution is still topical and relevant. The so-called 'higher quality' that the institute is supposed to accommodate is shaped by less visible factors. There are multiple interests at play in the placement of the artwork. With the hypermarket, we attempt to offer a satirical response to these institutional mechanisms.

We opt for a scenography that is based on consumerism. The exhibition is carried out in a white cube aesthetic, but it was decided to install the selected works on shop shelves. The shop racks are adapted to the works of art in order to display them optimally and form a critique of the product on the one hand and the institution on the other.

The invited artists: Aimé Fierens, Arthur Dufoor, Ayrton Eblé, Bjornus Van der Borght, Delphine Lejeune, Eliran Dahan, Floris Van Look, Helen Anna Flanagan, Kaspar de Jong, Martijn Petrus, Naomi Gilon, Nicolas Lamas, Stijn Ter Braak, Tristan Brundler, Vincent Vandaele, Walter Watieu, Wannes Missotten, Xavier Dufait and Yasmin Van der Rauwelaert