Hide your backbone

René Korten – Hide your backbone is an exhibition, an event and a walk-in catalogue all at once. This collaboration is directly linked to the exhibition by Christian Odzuck on the first floor of the IKOB, which is providing an in-depth reflection on the book itself. René Korten's abstract painting, three of which have been part of the IKOB collection for years, also represents the perfect symbiosis of control and chance, order and chaos. It is unintentional in the best sense of the word, as it does not subscribe to any agenda, school or ideology, instead benefiting from the wealth of experience gained from decades of work as a painter. (...) We certainly ascribe a political, or at least a socially relevant dimension to Korten's knowledgeable and intuitive painting, because where sense and purpose go hand in hand with profit and maximization, the sovereignty of artists is needed as a counterweight. Those who manage to develop their work over years or decades out of intrinsic desire, detached from questions of marketability, show society an imaginary space full of possibilities. This is currently the noblest task of art.