Gauthier Leroy ‘Kiss my folk’

aliceday is proud to present the first solo show in Belgium of Gauthier Leroy.
The work of this young French artist (b. 1967) is similar to a treasure hunt in which the public are invited to ask questions about the hidden reverse of things and their true origins. In fact, one of the most important aspects of his work is the creation of links between the different pieces, entirely hand-made by the artist, by means of word play and visual connivance.
In order to return to the source of things, he dissects historical works, myths and symbolic objects of collective memory which belong to design, language, architecture or music. Here, guitars are presented like empty shells, customised and non-functional. To him they evoke peeled peanuts and then by a leap of association, the famous American brand logo Mister Peanut, invented in 1914. Accordingly several pieces relate to brands and logos as these old knitted advertising images. In this respect there are many possible readings of the pieces, which refer to the manipulation of both meaning and image and are presented as objects ready to be to reactivated.

Project Room : Kurt Ryslavy ‘De oostenrijkse wijn - Le vin autrichien’
Sponsor curated by Luk Lambrecht

Skilfully mixing, for several years, his activity as an artist and an Austrian wine merchant, Kurt Ryslavy throws up red herrings and plays in a light-handed manner with this double identity. The work of Kurt Ryslavy is far from lighthearted, he conscientiously elaborates an artistic practice: his invoices have artificial wine stains, he offers Austrian wine whose labels he has drawn himself during « oeno-francophile » evenings, he projects a corporate publicity video about family of Austrian wine producers directly in front of a painting indicating the date on which wine was delivered to the gallery.
Equally, he plays with this double identity during performances realised under his trade name “De Oostenrijkse Wijn – The Austrian Wine” which at the same time serve to entertain the visitor and bring a certain irony in relation to the exhibition space, the gallery itself. Kurt rarely shows his paintings in cultural contexts and prefers this time to take on the role of the “sponsor”. His practice is therefore close to institutional critique whilst preserving a sincere and conscientious spirit.