Elastikommunikation 1964 - 2021

Francis Feidler (*1950, Malmedy, BE) knew early on that he would devote his life to art. Feidler begins to paint as a teenager, then studies art, becomes an art teacher, later a conceptual artist, organises exhibitions, founds a museum, collects artworks, educates, installs, directs, and – continues to make art. The exhibition “Elastikommunikation 1964 – 2021” is on home turf for Feidler: 27 years after founding the institution and nine years after stepping down as its director, he presents his life's work – which includes the very conception of the museum — at IKOB.

The concept of ELASTIKOMMUNIKATION 1964 – 2021 coined by Feidler runs as a thread through his practice: "My aim is to create situations in which the dialogue between artwork and viewer acquires an elasticity and takes advantage of open spaces," he wrote in 1988. To provoke these situations, Feidler repeatedly makes use of the same form of the spiral. Whether as an object, drawing or painting, the spiral is staged in connection with the natural or architectural environment in an interplay between contraction and expansion."

Feidler has shown in galleries, museums, and public spaces throughout Belgium, as well as North Rhine-Westphalia and Dutch Limburg since 1970. The exhibition takes a retrospective and thematic approach to guide the audience through his work: from Feidler’s first forays into painting, his later socio-critical installations, the spirals and site-specific works, to the development of IKOB and more recent bodies of work. The interplay between art and personality, between rebellion and institution, is the defining feature of this exhibition.

Presence of the artist:
• 4th and 5th September, 1-6 pm
• 2nd and 3rd October, 1-6 pm
• 6th and 7th November, 1-6 pm

Guided tours:
• 15th September, 13th October, 10th November, 6 pm - with curator Brenda Guesnet (DE)
• 21st September, 2pm and 4pm | 26th October, 8pm - with Francis Feidler (DE)
• 28th November, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm - with Brenda Guesnet (DE/FR/EN)