Danny Matthys (born 1947 in
Zottegem
Zottegem (, Sotteghem and Sottegem in older English and French language sources) is a municipality located in Belgium and more particularly in Flanders, in the province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Zottegem proper and ...
) is a Flemish - Belgian visual artist, which was originally known as
conceptual art
Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...
ist of international reputation. In the beginning of his career in the 1960s, he was a pioneer in
Polaroid art
Polaroid art is a type of alternative photography which consists of modifying an instant picture, usually while it is being developed. The most common types of Polaroid art are the emulsion lift, the Polaroid transfer and SX-70 manipulation.
Em ...
and
Video art
Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting ...
.
Biography
In 1977, there were two simultaneous exhibition in the
Van Abbemuseum
The Van Abbemuseum () is a museum of modern and contemporary art in central Eindhoven, Netherlands, on the east bank of the Dommel River. Established in 1936, the museum is named after its founder, Henri van Abbe, who loved modern art and wanted ...
in Eindhoven and the
Bonnefantenmuseum
The Bonnefanten Museum is a museum of fine art in Maastricht, Netherlands.
History
The museum was founded in 1884 as the historical and archaeological museum of the Dutch province of Limburg. The name Bonnefanten Museum is derived from the Frenc ...
in Maastricht, in the Netherlands, with mainly conceptual work. He is a conceptual artist with respect in Europe. In that time, the Dutch
Ger van Elk and
Jan Dibbets
Jan Dibbets (born 9 May 1941, in Weert) is an Amsterdam-based Dutch conceptual artist. His work is influenced by mathematics and works mainly with photography.
Life and career
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he started as an art teacher at the ...
are also important as European conceptual artists and
Joseph Kosuth
Joseph Kosuth (; born January 31, 1945), an American conceptual artist, lives in New York and London, is a big name in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. From the mid-1970s Danny Matthys created the development of artistic training at the Urban Arts Institute in
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...
. Given the many winners in several national art competitions it was quite valued. His partner there was Eric De Volder, a locally very famous Flemish experimental theater maker. It was a successful educational experiment that was closely linked to the brand new Flemish Ministry of Culture and Flemish Affairs, a forerunner of the current Flemish Culture Ministry.
From the 1980s, Matthys uses more traditional techniques.
Assemblage (art)
Assemblage is an artistic form or medium usually created on a defined substrate that consists of three-dimensional elements projecting out of or from the substrate. It is similar to collage, a two-dimensional medium. It is part of the visual ar ...
on the basis of strange antique photo series,
collage
Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...
photo mozaiec and oil painting do their entry in his oeuvre.
Australia
In the late 1980s, Matthys made several trips to Australia. He has seriously considered emigrating. He has had exhibitions in, among others, the Art Gallery of
New South Wales
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, together with the starting up
Wim Delvoye
Wim Delvoye (born 1965 in Wervik, West Flanders) is a Belgian neo-conceptual artist known for his inventive and often shocking projects. Much of his work is focused on the body. As the critic Robert Enright wrote in the art magazine ''Border ...
and created projects with the Australian film - composer
Peter Best (composer)
Peter Best is an Australian composer who has created or contributed to many film scores.
His career started in 1967.
In 1969, the founders of Producers Authors Composers and Talent (now PACT Centre for Emerging Artists) attended a Sydney Unive ...
. He has also worked on the old and the new art of
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
. He shares experience with Flemish - Belgian dr. Georges Petitjean, who as curator of the Museum of contemporary Aboriginal art in
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Nethe ...
, (Netherlands) curated a number of exhibitions in which Indigenous Australian and European art were included. However, several serious setbacks in the private atmosphere forced Danny Matthys finally to return to
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
Art Trip
He later reworks his former
collage
Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...
and even
Polaroid art
Polaroid art is a type of alternative photography which consists of modifying an instant picture, usually while it is being developed. The most common types of Polaroid art are the emulsion lift, the Polaroid transfer and SX-70 manipulation.
Em ...
- series with a very personal pointillist technique, in which he has owned several old and modern
aboriginal - techniques. Since the early 1990s, he started with what is still best described as
Mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
or monumental 'tile fragments-
Mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
'. This process also makes a connection with his older monumental photo -
collage
Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...
- work and his more recent pointillistic method. It gives a strong sense of indestructible timelessness.
His early
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
from the 1960s and early 1970s was restored and better protected from the ravages of time by Argos Foundation in Brussels, with the support of the
Flemish Community
The Flemish Community ( nl, Vlaamse Gemeenschap ; french: Communauté flamande ; german: Flämische Gemeinschaft ) is one of the three institutional communities of Belgium, established by the Belgian constitution and having legal responsibilitie ...
Curriculum
His work is part of several museum collections such as the
Museum of Modern Art, Antwerp
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp ( nl, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, commonly abbreviated as ''M HKA'', previously ''MuHKA'') is the contemporary art museum of the city of Antwerp, Belgium. Its current director is Bart de Baere.
Overvie ...
and many private collections in Europe and abroad. Danny Matthys is today a major name in the Flemish "Art - lending " project. Matthys discontinued a few years ago a rich career as a lecturer in art education. He was co-founder and professor of the Department
Mixed Media
In visual art, mixed media describes artwork in which more than one medium or material has been employed.
Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different media. Materials used to create mixed media art incl ...
within the KASK (art academy) of
Hogeschool Gent
University College Ghent ( nl, Hogeschool Gent), commonly known as HoGent, is the largest university college in Flanders, with three faculties, one School of Arts and over 17,000 students as of 2022. . On the left front of the
SMAK
Smak ( sr-Cyrl, Смак; trans. ''The end time'') was a Serbian and Yugoslav band from Kragujevac. The group reached the peak of popularity in the 1970s when it was one of the most notable acts of the former Yugoslav rock scene. The band's le ...
in Ghent is a huge work of him, made up of dozens of life-sized busts in pigmented concrete that is quite indestructible fixed in front of the famous museum. The work was previously conceived in an impressive horizontal drafting. Founding SMAK Director and Curator of
Documenta
''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany.
The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultura ...
IX in
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
in 1992.
Jan Hoet
Knight Jan Hoet (; 23 June 1936 – 27 February 2014) was the Belgian founder of SMAK (''Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst'' or Municipal Museum for Contemporary Art) in Ghent, Belgium.
Biography
Jan Hoet was born in Leuven, Belgium. Throug ...
wanted ultimately to hang it on the museum left frontwall.
Documenta 14
His well-known conceptual photo work 'Brabantdam 59, Downstairs-Upstairs' of 1975, part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp
M HKA
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp ( nl, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, commonly abbreviated as ''M HKA'', previously ''MuHKA'') is the contemporary art museum of the city of Antwerp, Belgium. Its current director is Bart de Baere.
Overview ...
, was loaned for a long term at the
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens
The National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST Εθνικό Μουσείο Σύγχρονης Τέχνης (ΕΜΣΤ)), established in October 2000, is the sole national institution focused only on collecting and exhibiting contemporary Greek and in ...
(EMST) and was selected for the
Fridericianum
The Fridericianum is a museum in Kassel, Germany. Built in 1779, it is one of the oldest public museums in Europe. during the
Documenta 14
documenta 14 was the fourteenth edition of the art exhibition documenta and took place in 2017 in both Kassel, Germany, its traditional home, and Athens, Greece. It was held first in Athens from 8 April to 16 July, and in Kassel from 10 June ...
2017 in the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
.
Documenta
''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany.
The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultura ...
is the most important international contemporary art manifestation worldwide.
Sports, Study and Training
In his youth, Matthys was a gifted
cyclist
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
in the category of 'promises', together with
André Dierickx
André Dierickx (born 29 October 1947) is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist who competed between 1969 and 1981. He competed in the individual road race at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Notable results
;1970 – Flandria-Mars ...
, which later won famous classics such as the
La Flèche Wallonne
La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium.
The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week betw ...
, but a very serious accident during the last years of his humanities studies in Ghent and a long rehabilitation, gave his life a strong new direction.
Matthys first studied Textile Design at the
Hogeschool Gent
University College Ghent ( nl, Hogeschool Gent), commonly known as HoGent, is the largest university college in Flanders, with three faculties, one School of Arts and over 17,000 students as of 2022. and then at both of the School of Arts and Architecture and the
Hogeschool Gent
University College Ghent ( nl, Hogeschool Gent), commonly known as HoGent, is the largest university college in Flanders, with three faculties, one School of Arts and over 17,000 students as of 2022. completed higher art formation and training in the monumental arts.
Famous names from his professional relations are
Hugo Debaere(† 1994),
Roger Raveel
Roger Henri Kamiel, Knight Raveel (15 July 1921 – 30 January 2013) was a Belgian painter, whose work is often associated with pop art because of its depiction of everyday objects. Raveel's style evolved throughout his career, from abstract to ...
, Marthe Wery,
Jan Vercruysse,
Jan Fabre
Jan Fabre (born 14 December 1958) is a Belgian multidisciplinary artist, playwright, stage director, choreographer and designer.
Conviction for sexual assault and harassment
In September 2018, twenty former members of Fabre's performing ar ...
,
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( , ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art mov ...
(† 1986) and Nick Ervinck.
References, Sources and External Links
Packed/ Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia Open Library Argos Art Preservation BrusselsPacked Danny MatthysMUHKA Museum of Modern Art of Antwerp - Permanent Collection / Kunstonline - Important Belgian Art Database/ Danny Matthys SMAK/ Hugo Debaere SMAK - Dutch - English Ghent Art Days 1986 Chamres D'AmisPMMK Museum of Modern Art of West Flandres County, Ostend BelgiumMuseum voor Contemporary Aborigines Art at Utrecht, The NetherlandsDocumenta 14 Shanghaidaily
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthys, Danny
1947 births
Belgian contemporary artists
Living people
Belgian installation artists
Artists from Ghent