Expo vu.e de dos - Le Delta - Namur

Vu.e de dos

Images à contre-courant

Le Delta, Namur (Belgium)

25.09.20 - 03.01.21

 

Carlos Aires, Jane Evelyn Atwood, Charlotte Beaudry, Michael Borremans, Dirk Braeckman, Gilles Caron, John Coplans, Daniel Dezeuze, Sylvie Eyberg, Esther Hovers, Yves Lecomte, Adam McEwen, Bruce Nauman, Shirin Neshat, Simone Niquille, Ria Pacquée, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Simon Schubert, Trine Søndergaard, François Struzik, Freddy Tsimba.

 

While the figure seen from behind is a recurrent motif in the history of Western art, it has rarely been the object of any specific consideration. And yet the subject seems to be particularly topical given the ubiquitousness of media in contemporary society. Indeed, isn’t the anonymity implied in the back view a way of escaping from the mass phenomenon of self-exhibition caused by the intensive use of social media and, more specifically, by the daily production of millions of ‘selfies’ ? More so still, doesn’t this anonymity appear as a deliberate act of resistance against the countless surveillance devices (among others, facial recognition) that have spread across our cities in recent years, to the extent that they threaten our individual freedoms ? Choosing the back over the face, contemporary artists activate its subversive character and express current concerns with regard to the political issues at stake in the distribution of self-images or the monitoring of our presence in the public space. By reflecting the position of the viewers, the work immediately makes them aware of the eminently subjective nature of vision. The artists have explored this mise en abyme in a variety of ways. The back view can be a way of questioning painting itself (Charlotte Beaudry, Daniel Dezeuze, Adam McEwen), of highlighting the pitfalls of our relation to the mirror (Yves Lecomte, Michelangelo Pistoletto), of sounding out the mysteries of the image (Michaël Borremans, Dirk Braeckman, Sylvie Eyberg) or of embodying the nightmare of a society obsessed by its own reflection (Simon Schubert).

Exposing surveillance systems in order to better denounce the threat they pose (Bruce Nauman, Esther Hovers) and avoiding the mechanisms of facial recognition on activist grounds (Carlos Aires, Simone Niquille) are among the strategies adopted by the artists. Showing a figure from behind can also reflect an attitude of revolt and uprising that is the sign of dissimulated causes (Gilles Caron). The back represents this distancing with regard to the Other, out of a sense of modesty or in order to contextualize the relation of contempt. It gives an identity to these outcasts and society’s other invisible members : migrants (François Struzik, Freddy Tsimba), older women (Trine Søndergaard), prisoners (Jane Evelyn Atwood), or one’s own ageing body (John Coplans).

At times, the back symbolizes a detour taken to approach one’s own identity (Ria Pacquée) or the visible stigma of an impossible blend of genres (Shirin Neshat). Far from being an act of evasion, exposing the back can be read as a salutary reversal, a different way of occupying the world.

Isabelle de Longrée

Anaël Lejeune


Les passeurs du réel - François Struzik

Les passeurs du réel

journée autour du journalisme vivant

Quai 22, Namur (Belgium)

24 mars 2019

"L'image adolescente"

Strong and fragile.

Ghana, Ecuador, Palestine, Cambodia, Belgium... portraits of teenagers.

 

Portefolio: follow the link.


Expo photo molenbeek Plan Belgium © François Struzik - simply human

Travel Photography

Pop up shop

Encore Brussels gallery,

rue de Flandre, 91

June 22-23-24 2018

 


Expo photo molenbeek Plan Belgium © François Struzik - simply human

Filles, garçons, à égalité?

Equality between girls and boys… fact or fiction?

photo exhibition for Plan International Belgium

Maison des Cultures, Molenbeek (Belgium)

16.10.17 - 28.10.17


Sacred journey Alliance française Karachi © François Struzik

Voyage sacré - Sacred Journey

photo exhibition by François Struzik

Alliance française de Karachi (AfK) (Pakistan)

08.02.16 - 15.02.16


Retro presse Namur François Struzik Migrations

Migrations - François Struzik

12 pictures around migrations

invited photographer

Galerie du Beffroi - Namur (B)

29.01.16 - 28.02.16

© Barbara Pronier
© Barbara Pronier

Migrants d'hier et d'aujourd'hui CRIC Charleroi © François Struzik - simply human

"Migrants d'hier et d'aujourd'hui, expulsons  nos préjugés"

"Migration today and before: enough with prejudices!"

Around migration with the photography of François Struzik - simply human

CRIC Charleroi (B) - 2016

CRIC: Centre Régional d'Intégration de Charleroi.

Université Ouverte de Charleroi - 2016

Centre Culturel La Villa Culture de Ganshoren - 2016

Maison de la Laïcité, Andenne - 2016


Kusrdistan Alevi Religion
14th MUNZUR Culture & Nature - Festival of DERSIM (Turkey) © François Struzik

14th MUNZUR Culture & Nature 

Festival of DERSIM (Turkey)


Conférence migration François Struzik photographe Louvain-la-Neuve LLN

Migration and photography

La migration vue par la photographie, par le photographe François Struzik

Louvain-la-Neuve (B) 25/03/15

Agora 11, 20.30

A conference where I'll share my experience of taking pictures of migrant people in some places of the world.


More than anything, I want to share their stories. Why they are moving, what are the conditions, the risks and the opportunities.

The conference is organized by the Photokot, a collective of students working to spread the interest in photography.


Rue de Steppes,

portrait of an urban area

Liège - Belgium - permanent exhibition

The area between the St-Leonard's Church, the railway and the very industrial district of Herstal has suffered a lot these last decades.
A new square is born rue de Steppes, just by a primary school and a new playground.
The architects proposed to make a portrait of the area to be exhibited permanently on the doors of the square.
The hands of the people living in this area where a lot of workshops used to make it living, was an obvious choice.
This area will continue to live with the commitment and the work of the inhabitants themselves.


Voyage en Islam

Théâtre de Namur  (B) - 11/2014

Islam - a journey:

photographic exhibition at the Théâtre de Namur,

12-30/11/14.

opening the 13th of November at 6.30pm.

 

"Islam - a journey" is a long term journey through the muslim world. Kosovo, Morocco, India, Kashmir, Kurdistan, Bangladesh. François Struzik takes us into rites, pieces of human life, meeting the "other".
From the brightness of the Himalayan skies to the darkness of the slums, from joy to tears, from hope to resignation, François Struzik' pictures bring us together with him in his journey in Islam."


 more….

© Olivier Cellière
© Olivier Cellière

François Struzik - Fotografie

Raum Für Kunst - Aachen (D) - 02/2013

a high quality print catalogue was produced for this exhibition.


Parcours de femmes

Quai 22 - Namur (B) - 03/2013

Ville d'Etterbeek (B) - 2016


Pèlerinage Hamadcha

Galerie 11 - Brussels (B) - 01/2013

Forum des Halles - Louvain-la-Neuve (B) - 10/2012


Art Namur - collective exhibition of contemporary art

Namur (B) - 11/2010


Visages d'Islam

Galerie Kapellet - Namur (B) - 03/2010


Stocznia Gdanska - workers of the Gdansk Shipyard

a sound and picture project. A collective work with Cécile Liège - Le sonographe

Photo Gallery - Brussels (B) - 2010


Stocznia Gdanska - workers of the Gdansk Shipyard

a sound and picture project. A collective work with Cécile Liège - Le sonographe

Stavelot (B)- Nantes (F) - Saint-Nazaire (F) - Charleroi (B) - 2005- 2006