Jan Lauwers studied painting at the Academy of Art in Ghent (1976-1980). At the request of the curator Luk Lambrecht, he took part in the Grimbergen 2002 exhibition together with 8 other artists. In spring 2006 his work was included in the DARK exhibition at the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam curated by Jan Grosfeld and Rein Wolfs. Spring 2007 a solo exhibition of his art work was presented at BOZAR in Brussels. The curator of this solo exhibition was Jérôme Sans. Luk Lambrecht has invited Jan Lauwers to take part in Down to Earth, a group exhibition of ceramics at Strombeek cultural centre (2009). Jérôme Sans invited Jan Lauwers to exhibit at Galerie Bleich-Rosi at Curated by_vienna 09. The title of the group exhibition by Jérôme Sans was From Europe to Asia and back, again. Living in a suitcase. Curated by brings 18 Viennese contemporary art galleries together with international curators.
It was subsequently selected for the International Short-Film Festival in Hamburg in 2004 and in July 2004 was screened in the old water-tower at Bredene on the Belgian coast as part of Grasduinen 2004, SMAK-aan-zee.

Jan Lauwers is now working on a major new project The House of Our Fathers – a house measuring 20 x 5 x 5m. A 'house' work of art that examines time, place and perception (the essential difference between theatre and art). It will be expanded over the years to form an entirely independent work of art to which Jan Lauwers invites other artists.
• Untitled Construction including The Moustache of Duchamp (video-work 1997) (2006) (Video-installation)
• The Draughtsman's Room (2006-)
• Deconstruction (2007) (Installation)
• The House of Our Fathers (2007-) (Installation)
• The Archives of Saul J. Waner (2010)
• The Entertainer’s Private Room (2011)
> more
Performances
• Caligula, No Beauty for me there where human life is rare, part one, Documenta X (Kassel, 1997)
• O.H.N.O.P.O.P.I.C.O.N.O., October 2006, Temps d'Images (Paris)
• DECONSTRUCTION, March 2007, PSK (Brussels)
• DECONSTRUCTION, November 2007, haus der kunst (Munich)

> more
• The Lucidity of the Obscene, Needcompany in cooperation with IT&FB publishing company, Vanden Abeele, Maarten (Brussels/Amsterdam), 1998.
• No beauty for me there, where human life is rare. On Jan Lauwers' theatre work with Needcompany, Stalpaert, Christel, Bousset, Sigrid, Le Roy, Frederik, Academia Press (Ghent), IT&FB publishing company (Amsterdam), 2007.

> more
For his theatre and film work, please check www.needcompany.org.
Gsm: +32 485 35 86 96
Fax: +32 2 218 23 17
jan.lauwers@afang.be
elke@afang.be
Jan Lauwers (Antwerp, 1957) is an artist who works in just about every medium. Over the last twenty years he has become best known for his pioneering work for the stage with Needcompany, which he has founded in Brussels in 1986, together with Grace Ellen Barkey.
Deconstructions were made by Jan Lauwers using disused museum material. These museum installations have already been shown at BOZAR (Brussels) and the haus der kunst (Munich) in 2007.

At the Artbrussels art fair (2007), Lauwers was invited to make a site-specific work for BOZAR. In February 2003 Jan Lauwers wrote and directed a silent short film on violence, called C-Song. This film has been shown to a limited audience several times, during the Needlapbs at STUK in Leuven and the Kaaitheater Studios in Brussels, and also in War is Not Art at the Vooruit in Ghent. In April 2004 C-Song had its official premiere at the Courtisane short-film festival in Ghent.
• The House of the Fisherman (1993-1997)
• Hong Kong Room (1997-2002)
• No beauty for me there, where human life is rare (2002) (Installation)
• The Paradise of Camel Leon (2002-2006)
• C-Song (2003) (Video)
• A12-cycle, den Boomsesteenweg (2005-2006)
Solo exhibitions
• RESTLESSNESS, Jan Lauwers, PSK/PBA Brussels, curated by Jérôme Sans (6 March 2007 - 6 May 2007)
• The Archives of Saul J. Waner at Charim Ungar Berlin I CUC (5th February 2010 - 12th of March 2010)
• The Entertainer’s Private Room at Charim Galerie Wien (1st March 2011 – 2nd March 2011)

Group exhibitions
 • curated by_vienna 09, From Europe to Asia and back, again. Living in a suitcase, curated by Jérôme Sans, 6 May - 30 June 2009
• Down to Earth, Strombeek cultural centre, curated by Luk Lambrecht, 27 February - 5 April 2009
• DARK, Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, curated by Rein Wolfs and Jan Grosfeld, 2006
• Grasduinen 2004, SMAK-aan-zee, Bredene, curated by Cis Bierinckx, 2004
• Grimbergen 2002, curated by Luk Lambrecht
• The Tragedy of The Applause - Roubaix at La Condition Publique (Roubaix) 26 November 2009 – 23 December 2009
• The Tragedy of The Applause - Strombeek - the Good, the Bad & the Ugly, PART I, at CC Strombeek (Brussels) 25 September 2010 – 21 October 2010
• Selection & Accumulation, the Good, the Bad & the Ugly, PART II at De Garage (Mechelen) 30 September 2010 – 28 November 2010
Bibliography
• RESTLESSNESS, Jan Lauwers, Brussels, by fonds Mercator, Bozar Books & Needcompany,
2007, 176 p., English (ISBN 978 90 6153 730 4), French (ISBN 978 90 6153 768 7)
• DWB 06 4 - Literary Magazine (Dutch) - Texts from & about Jan Lauwers, a separate quire
(16 pages) is available: Polaroids: 'The Paradise of the Camel Leon'
In a world that has reverted to a 'superficial realism' in a bid to survive, Jan Lauwers uses words and images to mark out a singular territory in which hysteria, the absurd, the inexpressible, freedom and disarray can coexist and even become one. Jan Lauwers deploys his well-rounded personality to create risky openings to spheres rendered invisible by our modern world.
(Jérôme Sans)
Jan Lauwers
Afang bvba
Hooikaai 35
B-1000 Brussels