Willem Oorebeek
Pernis, The Netherlands, 1953. Lives and works in Brussels, Belgium.
Willem Oorebeek has been focusing his attention, during the 25 years of his artistic production, in the question of image and its representation, exploring notions of repetition, reproduction, authorship and originality. The artist works in what he calls the infinite cycle of destruction and recirculation of print images.
The artist’s specific method is to collect printed material from the public domain of mass media, based on criteria such as attraction, affection or affinity, and by a manipulation of that material and its transposition into other media, usually using graphic art techniques.
A very particular operation in his works is what Oorebeek calls BLACKOUT, a lithographic technique which consists in printing a layer of black ink over the images. Covered by ink, the images are visible only when the light which falls over the black surface is seen in a certain angle. This gesture has a double sense: at the same time that is dictating its death, the artist is also rescuing and highlighting the uniqueness of the images.
Solo Exhibitions (selection)
2022
Obstakles, LUMIAR CITÉ, Lisbon.
2014
Séance BLACKOUT (A London Couch) 2012 - 2013, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon, Portugal.
2012
Les secrets de la memoire, A.VE.NU.DE.JET.TE – Institut de Carton, Brussels, Belgium.
2011
American proof AP, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, USA.
KATALOG, Culturgest, Porto, Portugal.
More of the same, Modern Art Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
2008
MONOLITH, Once or Many, Culturgest, Lisbon, Portugal.
2007
Progress & Noise, Frehrking – Wiesehöfer Galerie, Cologne, Germany.
2006
Bigger, Higher, Leader, S.M.A.K., Stedelijk Museum voor aktuele kunst, Ghent, Belgium.
Group Exhibitions (selection)
2015
EMINENT DOMAINS (proper names) + OO Inflatables, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, USA.
2014
Collection Presentation, S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium.
Tokonoma, Ludlow 38, New York, USA.
2013
A Whole Range of Furtively Titillating Stereotypes, Galerie Micheline Szwajcer, Brussels, Belgium.
Xerography, Firstsite, Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom.
Parallax Object, Relief, Blackouts, Martin Van Zomeren, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Common Grounds, Common Practices, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
VERTICAL CLUB, Bortolami Gallery, New York, USA.
Specific Collisions, Marianne Boesky Gallery 64th Street, New York, USA.
Tradition, Grazer Kunstverein, Graz, Austria.
Blackout, Exhibition Research Center, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Tradition, Marres,
Centre for Contemporary Culture,
Maastricht, The Netherlands.
The Moon has a Complicated Geography, De Vleeshal, Middelburg, The Netherlands.
Baw-lal, Galerie Juliètte Jongma, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2012
Prolongation, Galerie Nächst St. Stephan, Vienna, Austria.
These and Other Works, Extra City Kunsthal, Antwerp, Belgium.
knell dobre glas, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon/ Porto, Portugal.
Monolith/ Life, met Aglaia Konrad, Sint-Lukas Gallery, Brussels, Belgium.
2011
unExhibit, Generali Foundation, Vienna, Austria.
The Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, Spain.
Tomorrow Is The Question/Collection Presentation, S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium.
Valéry Proust Museum/ White Cube Fever, MuZee, Ostende, Belgium.
Monolith/ Life, met Aglaia Konrad, Villa Romana, Florence, Italy.
2010
Pay a Visit to Mary, Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, USA.
Een kleine ritselende revolutie, Bruges, Belgium.
When the chairs are on the table, Jochen Weber, Simon Thompson, Willem Oorebeek, WCW Galerie, Willemsburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Pay a Visit to Mary II, Kunstverein, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The way it wasn't, 10 years Castillo/Corrales, Midway Centre for Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, USA.
2009
Zwischen den Krisen, met Jochen Schmidth, Harburger Bahnhof, Hamburg, Germany.
Kommentar als selber was, Kunstlerhaus Exnergasse, Vienna, Austria.
Le Musée Imaginaire, LP met Christine Lemke, Frankfurt, Berlin, Germany.
Return of the gods & other myths, BAK Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Avec le temps _ in Time, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, USA.
NIET NORMAAL, Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2008
Merz in Februar, :emyt Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany.
Vienna Appartment, Brussels, Belgium.
Die Lucky Bush, Muhka, Antwerp, Belgium.
2007
Les films eux-mêmes: Joëlle Tuerlinckx par Willem Oorebeek, argos, Brussels, Belgium.
2006
Steierischer Herbst, Graz, Austria.
Being, in Brussels, argos, Bussels, Belgium.
More club, 2011. Digital print on paper. 60 x 45,5 cm (image) 67,5 x 55 cm (paper)
More details, 2011. Digital print on paper. 60 x 45,5 cm (image) 67,5 x 55 cm (paper)
More elle, 2011. Digital print on paper. 60 x 45,5 cm (image) 67,5 x 55 cm (paper)
More elle 2, 2011. Digital print on paper. 60 x 45,5 cm (image) 67,5 x 55 cm (paper)
More glamour, 2011. Digital print on paper. 60 x 45,5 cm (image) 67,5 x 55 cm (paper)
More jalouse, 2011. Digital print on paper. 60 x 45,5 cm (image) 67,5 x 55 cm (paper)
More Time, 2011. Digital print on paper. 60 x 45,5 cm (image) 67,5 x 55 cm (paper)