The work of Brussels-based artist Richard Venlet combines sculpture, art history research, exhibition design and architecture. Venlet creates ‘environments’ out of spaces. His refined abstract aesthetics and the pragmatism of his oeuvre reach far beyond a simple formal reference to Modernism and Minimalism. Working in context-specific situations, he has produced numerous installations that incorporate the work of other artists and collaborators, forming composite and circuitous environments that are often whimsical reconfigurations of architectural space. By intervening in a space, the artist gives the viewer an experience of alienation; making him see his surroundings anew and occupy a vital part in it.
As an artist who deliberately intervenes with the architecture of an exhibition space, Venlet reaches further into architectural production through regular collaborations with architectural offices, such as OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen and Philippe Vander Maren.
Richard Venlet was born in Australia in 1964 but now lives and works in Brussels. His work has been shown in numerous national and international galleries and museums, including: WIELS and BOZAR in Brussels, Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf, S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Macba in Barcelona and FRAC in Paris among others.
Setting the Scene – text by Sam Steverlinck, in DAMN°49 magazine