Over the years he has also built up a substantial body of art work which has been shown at BOZAR (Brussels) and McaM (Shanghai) among other places. Jan Lauwers was awarded the ‘Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria’ in 2012. In 2014, he was rewarded with the ‘Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the Venice Biennale. He is the first Belgian to receive this prize in the theatre category.
In September 1997 Lauwers was invited to take part in the theatre section of Documenta X (Kassel), for which he created ‘Caligula’, after Camus, the first part of a diptych called ‘No beauty for me there, where human life is rare’. At the request of the curator Luk Lambrecht, Jan Lauwers took part in the Grimbergen 2002 exhibition together with 8 other artists (including Thomas Schütte, Lili Dujourie, Job Koelewijn, Atelier Van Lieshout, Jan De Cock and Ann Veronica Janssens). In spring 2006 his work was included in the DARK exhibition at the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam.
In September 1997 Lauwers was invited to take part in the theatre section of Documenta X (Kassel), for which he created ‘Caligula’, after Camus, the first part of a diptych called ‘No beauty for me there, where human life is rare’. At the request of the curator Luk Lambrecht, Jan Lauwers took part in the Grimbergen 2002 exhibition together with 8 other artists (including Thomas Schütte, Lili Dujourie, Job Koelewijn, Atelier Van Lieshout, Jan De Cock and Ann Veronica Janssens). In spring 2006 his work was included in the DARK exhibition at the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam.
In May 2009, Jérôme Sans invited Jan Lauwers to exhibit at Curated by Vienna 09. Curated by brought 18 Viennese contemporary art galleries together with international curators. In September 2011, Champ d’Action and M HKA organised the 8th Time Canvas, during which Jan Lauwers’ ‘Last Guitar Monster’ was shown. In May 2016, Jan Lauwers became the first Belgian to exhibit at the brand new McaM in Shanghai, a museum of contemporary art headed by the Chinese artist Qiu Zhijie. Part of this exhibition will be on show at BOZAR in Brussels in spring 2017.
‘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) (2007). They formed the setting for an eight-hour marathon performance by the Needcompany ensemble on which the whole of Jan Lauwers’ mental world converged. The basis for the follow-up project, ‘The House of Our Fathers’, a ‘house’ artwork that examines time, place and perception, was a house measuring 5 by 5 by 20 m. ‘The House of Our Fathers’ was shown at the Museum M in Leuven, at Kunsthalle Mannheim during the 16th Internationale Schillertage (2011), during Hannover’s Kunstfestspiele Herrenhausen in 2013 and at McaM (Shanghai) in 2016.
‘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) (2007). They formed the setting for an eight-hour marathon performance by the Needcompany ensemble on which the whole of Jan Lauwers’ mental world converged. The basis for the follow-up project, ‘The House of Our Fathers’, a ‘house’ artwork that examines time, place and perception, was a house measuring 5 by 5 by 20 m. ‘The House of Our Fathers’ was shown at the Museum M in Leuven, at Kunsthalle Mannheim during the 16th Internationale Schillertage (2011), during Hannover’s Kunstfestspiele Herrenhausen in 2013 and at McaM (Shanghai) in 2016.
• 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)
• OH' (2009) (Ceramic work)
• Last Guitar Monster (2009)
• The Archives of Saul J. Waner (2010)
• The Entertainer’s Private Room (2011)
> more
• The Draughtsman's Room (2006-)
• Deconstruction (2007) (Installation)
• The House of Our Fathers (2007-) (Installation)
• OH' (2009) (Ceramic work)
• Last Guitar Monster (2009)
• The Archives of Saul J. Waner (2010)
• The Entertainer’s Private Room (2011)
> more
• Selection & Accumulation, the Good, the Bad & the Ugly, PART II at De Garage (Mechelen) 30 September 2010 – 28 November 2010
• Last Guitar Monster, M HKA, Champ d'Action - Time Canvas, September 2011
• C-Song & Rakvere, Côté Cour, Saline Royale, Arc et Senans, curated by Christophe Desforges, 1 June 2013 - 30 September 2013
• BLACK MIRROR, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art Salzburg, 21 July 2018 – 1 September 2018
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)
• THE HOUSE OF OUR FATHERS, June 2011, Kunsthalle Mannheim / 16. Internationale Schillertage (Mannheim)
• THE HOUSE OF OUR FATHERS, November 2011, Museum M / PLAYGROUND (Leuven)
• THE HOUSE OF OUR FATHERS, June 2013, Kunstfestspiele Herrenhausen (Hanover)
• THE HOUSE OF OUR FATHERS, May 2016, McaM (Shanghai)
> more
• Last Guitar Monster, M HKA, Champ d'Action - Time Canvas, September 2011
• C-Song & Rakvere, Côté Cour, Saline Royale, Arc et Senans, curated by Christophe Desforges, 1 June 2013 - 30 September 2013
• BLACK MIRROR, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art Salzburg, 21 July 2018 – 1 September 2018
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)
• THE HOUSE OF OUR FATHERS, June 2011, Kunsthalle Mannheim / 16. Internationale Schillertage (Mannheim)
• THE HOUSE OF OUR FATHERS, November 2011, Museum M / PLAYGROUND (Leuven)
• THE HOUSE OF OUR FATHERS, June 2013, Kunstfestspiele Herrenhausen (Hanover)
• THE HOUSE OF OUR FATHERS, May 2016, McaM (Shanghai)
> more
• 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)
• 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.
• Silent Stories, Jan Lauwers, McaM (Shanghai), 2016
• The House of Our Fathers, The House of Our Fathers, Dirk Braeckman en Jan Lauwers, MER. Paper Kunsthalle, Gent, 2017 (ISBN 978 94 9232 151 0)
> more
2007, 176 p., English (ISBN 978 90 6153 730 4), French (ISBN 978 90 6153 768 7)
• 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.
• Silent Stories, Jan Lauwers, McaM (Shanghai), 2016
• The House of Our Fathers, The House of Our Fathers, Dirk Braeckman en Jan Lauwers, MER. Paper Kunsthalle, Gent, 2017 (ISBN 978 94 9232 151 0)
> more
For his theatre and film work, please check www.needcompany.org.
WATERCOLOURS FROM MILL'S CREEK |
| Jan Lauwers (Antwerp, 1957) is an artist who works in just about every medium. He studied painting at the Academy of Art in Ghent. Over the last thirty years he has become best known for his pioneering work for the stage with Needcompany, which was founded in Brussels in 1986. From 2009 until 2014 Needcompany has been artist-in-residence at the Burgtheater in Vienna. |
In 2007 Jan Lauwers had his first solo exhibition, at BOZAR (Brussels), curated by Jérôme Sans (former director of Palais de Tokyo, now at the UCCA). To accompany this exhibition he also compiled the first book to focus on his art work from 1996 to 2006. At the Artbrussels art fair (2007), Lauwers was invited to make a site-specific work for BOZAR. Luk Lambrecht has invited Jan Lauwers to take part in Down to Earth, a group exhibition of ceramics at Strombeek cultural centre, which includes work by Ann Veronica Janssens, Heimo Zobernig, Atelier Van Lieshout, Lawrence Weiner, Kurt Ryslavy and Manfred Pernice. |
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• 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) • Rakvere (2005) (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) • Silent Stories, Jan Lauwers, McaM (Shanghai) (20 May 2016 - 31 July 2016) • Silent Stories, Jan Lauwers, BOZAR (Brussel) (1 April 2017 - 25 June 2017) • Watercolours from Mill's Creek, at Kusseneers Gallery, 25 October 2018 – 17 November 2018 Group exhibitions • Grimbergen 2002, curated by Luk Lambrecht • Grasduinen 2004, SMAK-aan-zee, Bredene, curated by Cis Bierinckx, 2004 • DARK, Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, curated by Rein Wolfs and Jan Grosfeld, 2006 • Down to Earth, Strombeek cultural centre, curated by Luk Lambrecht, 27 February - 5 April 2009 • curated by_vienna 09, From Europe to Asia and back, again. Living in a suitcase, curated by Jérôme Sans, 6 May - 30 June 2009 • 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 |
| Bibliography (art) • The Lucidity of the Obscene, Needcompany in cooperation with IT&FB publishing company, Vanden Abeele, Maarten (Brussels/Amsterdam), 1998. • 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 Rue Gabrielle Petit 4 B-1080 Sint-Jans-Molenbeek |