Paraphrase /ˈpærəfreɪz/

DEUTSCH

Paraphrase /ˈpærəfreɪz/
An Onghena
Oct. 14 - Nov. 6, 2021 

Vernissage & Artist Talk⎢Thurs. Oct 14, 18 - 22 hr

The artist, An Onghena will be present at the exhibition opening. An artist talk starts at 7 pm.
*Please have a negative test or complete vaccination for the event. Kindly wear a mask inside the space.

Paraphrase /ˈpærəfreɪz/

1.1. expresses the meaning of something written or spoken, using different words, especially to achieve greater clarity.
1.2. is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words.

In her research about artist books, An Onghena explores the form and status of books in different contexts. For Onghena, books and paper are a working partner rather than a tool to use for drawing, writing, or painting. Onghena turns the concept of ‘a book’ inside out, to approach new directions and give different meanings to the book.

In the exhibition Paraphrase /ˈpærəfreIz/ Onghena introduces her research by a video of the work Performance for the book. This performance was developed in 2017 during her one-year artist residency at Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, The Netherlands. Performance for the book shows the ability of an enlarged piece of paper that transits into a dance and ends up as a sculpture. It shows the love for paper and the ambiguity of this material. This performance functions as a visual experiment to give life and meaning to the paper, and to acknowledge its own important role.

Starting from Performance for the book the exhibition shows new sketches, drawings and works by the artist dating from 2018 until 2021. Following this, Onghena launches her new artist book werkboek in collaboration with Jivan van der Ende. This publication can be seen as a reading tool with a performative and collaborative element, between the two artists as well as the two readers.

einBuch # 21 

werkboek
An Onghena & Jivan van der Ende

kabinet.studio, 2021

Textual contribution: Joyce Poot

48p, risoprinted in black ink
First edition of 50 + 10 artist / performance editions (out of print)
Second edition of 75  

ISBN: 9789464447156

An Onghena 

In an attempt to better understand the world and the unknown, An Onghena explores the boundaries between art and science. With a subtle sense of humour and flirting with the fictitious, she integrates her experience in the applied arts into an autonomous artistic practice. In line with this she focuses in some works on the status of the artist book and analogue technologies, as seen against the backdrop of increasing digitization.

In all her works, Onghena endeavors to activate the viewer of her work. An Onghena (b.1992, Belgium) received her MA Graphic Design and thereafter her MA of Research in Art & Design at Sint Lucas Antwerp. She was artist-in-residence at the Jan Van Eyck Academy, Maastricht and laureate of Toegepast20 in Z33. Recently her work was seen in Remodeling Graphic Habits, nr 86 at The Art Center, Sarasota, Florida; Figures and Routines at Sea Foundation, Tilburg. In 2019 Goldberg Galerie hosted the solo exhibiton Bring out into the open. The work Performance for the book has been performed in various fairs and exhibitions from Europe to the United States.

• Funded by Stiftung Kunstfonds, das NEUSTART KULTUR-Programm

PRESS RELEASE

Exhibition view: An Onghena, paraphrase, einBuchhaus.2021 (Photo: Olivia Kwok)