Wim Delvoye Belgium / 1965 Console table with gas cylinders (1989-1990)
Details
Installation - 8 gas cylinders - Painted
On a wooden console table
Sig. 1989-90 with title on 1 gas cylinder and sig. 1989-90 with title on console table
144 x 160 x 44,5 cm (tot.)
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
Lot essay
Industrial fragility
Eight gas cylinders, decorated with Delft blue motifs, presented on a classic wooden piece of furniture. Simple, right? But as is often the case with conceptual art, there is more to it. By connecting objects and images from two worlds, Wim Delvoye creates non-existent objects. As a viewer, you can form an idea as to where you know these items from, but they are completely removed from their original context.
The artwork is characterised by a contradiction. The cosy and homely feeling evoked by the Delft blue is undermined by the brutality of the butane gas cylinders. On one side you become aware of the fragility of the porcelain, and on the other side you feel the hardness of the industrial objects. And yet it all looks very natural. The utilitarian item and the decoration merge into a new whole. The banal and the sublime take on each other's forms and become interchangeable.
Decorating rather mundane objects is typical of the work Delvoye made in the late 1980s. For instance, he also paints circular saw blades and shovels with these Delft patterns. He transforms ironing boards into coats of arms by adding heraldic motifs. Soccer goals and tennis rackets are transformed into stained-glass masterpieces. The way Delvoye decorates or ennobles objects is not purely decorative. The nature of the object is always radically altered.
See also lot 453
Bid on this lot
Details
Installation - 8 gas cylinders - Painted
On a wooden console table
Sig. 1989-90 with title on 1 gas cylinder and sig. 1989-90 with title on console table
144 x 160 x 44,5 cm (tot.)
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
Lot essay
Industrial fragility
Eight gas cylinders, decorated with Delft blue motifs, presented on a classic wooden piece of furniture. Simple, right? But as is often the case with conceptual art, there is more to it. By connecting objects and images from two worlds, Wim Delvoye creates non-existent objects. As a viewer, you can form an idea as to where you know these items from, but they are completely removed from their original context.
The artwork is characterised by a contradiction. The cosy and homely feeling evoked by the Delft blue is undermined by the brutality of the butane gas cylinders. On one side you become aware of the fragility of the porcelain, and on the other side you feel the hardness of the industrial objects. And yet it all looks very natural. The utilitarian item and the decoration merge into a new whole. The banal and the sublime take on each other's forms and become interchangeable.
Decorating rather mundane objects is typical of the work Delvoye made in the late 1980s. For instance, he also paints circular saw blades and shovels with these Delft patterns. He transforms ironing boards into coats of arms by adding heraldic motifs. Soccer goals and tennis rackets are transformed into stained-glass masterpieces. The way Delvoye decorates or ennobles objects is not purely decorative. The nature of the object is always radically altered.
See also lot 453
