Who wrote this?
We’ve written about a few photography expositions in ‘De Brakke Grond‘ before (1, 2), because they always seem to be a bit absurd and thought provoking, and they succeed in this again with their new feature of young photographer Jimmy Kets. The young talent from Antwerp tries to show how artificial and constructed the world around us is with two series on show, one featuring the shallowness of the entertainment industry, the other one (rather sarcastically) showing how the mythical symbolism of the ‘American Dream’ has taken root in Belgium.
I don’t feel the need to draw blood. What fascinates me is that first impression, the way people present their exterior to the world.
Brightside is an investigation into the international amusement industry. Kets operates ruthlessly: women with their skin pulled taut look as artificial as the plastic plants in the hall of a trade fair. This series, previously exhibited at Antwerp’s FotoMuseum, is accompanied by a book of the same title.
Shot in Flanders shows how the symbolism of mythical America has taken root in Flanders. For this new series, Kets photographed car washes, Cadillacs with gleaming chrome, and battered replicas of the Statue of Liberty found along the roadsides. Images that point the way to an American dream that has long evaporated. The tightly ordered compositions in which Kets arranges these over-familiar symbols reveals them in a new light.
Brightside/Shot in Flanders is part of festival België!? from March 17-19 in Flemish Arts Centre ‘De Brakke Grond’. With theatre, photography, music and speeches about the most difficult country in the world.
Brightside/Shot in Flanders by Jimmy Kets
Date: March 18th to April 17th
Opening hours: Mon 13:00 – 18:00, Tu to Fri, 10:00 – 20:30, Sat, 13:00 – 20:30, Sun 13:00 – 17:00
Grand opening: March 17th, 17:00
Location: Brakke Grond
Tickets: free
Sharing is caring!
Tweet
