Hans Op de Beeck

Amande Dionne
© Adagp, Paris, 2022, Amande Dionne

Venue

Usines Fagor

Lyon

Born 1969 in Turnhout, Belgium.
Lives and works in Brussels, Belgium

Hans Op de Beeck composes miniature or gigantic worlds, either empty or populated with anonymous beings. These spaces – between stillness and motion – offer moments of wonder and silence. For the Lyon Biennale, the artist is making an immersive, entirely grey installation that looks like a derelict campsite or a run-down urban park covered in ash. The title, We Were the Last to Stay, refers to the final inhabitants who remain in this community space when the dream of a shared life has lost its impetus and the once-animated place has sadly emptied. The petrified ensemble, like a ghost town, can be perceived as a huge memento mori – a reminder of the irretrievable passage of time and the vanity of human existence.

Also on view at Musée Gadagne.