JEANS & PASTA
MICHAEL VAN DEN ABEELE
LIVE READING & SCREENING
GALERIE KIN, RUE RAVENSTEIN 37
BRUSSELS, SEPTEMBER 1, 2023
a white cube without a ceiling
Three paintings of the series Jeans/Denim
straddle the walls
To enter the cube
pull back one of the canvases
(a large circle on a light background)
or bend your back
Inside, two textile works
(several rows of dark circles
or tiles on a light background)
are also climbing over the walls
The space is in the dark
The audience by mutual agreement
sits on the ground
The video starts
with a small group of Italian pasta
twirling in a joyful and Latin rhythm
Dressed in black
Michael Van de Abeele
sits at the back in the middle of the audience
His monologue in English
describes a stay in Rome
populated by Cupidos
The mental images of little plump cherubs
are mixed with images of boiling yellow
carbohydrates
and their neon blue version
produced by a machine
The vessels for the sauce
fusilli and linguine
are celebrated in images and by a short song
karaoke style
The monologue continues with the artist
seated at a table covered with a black tablecloth.
Van den Abeele talks about divorce
when the red and the blue of superman
become aubergine and dark blue
therapy and the moment of hesitation
when paying in cash for a session with a shrink
a big leather wallet full of bank notes
At night two angels touch with their right hands
the upper leg of Van Den Abeele
The reading ends with a cheerful music
Two series of applause
one for the reading
and one, after a silence
for the personae Michael Van den Abeele
Jeans & Pasta
a relaxed evening in pleasant darkness
Van den Abeele's poetic and physical narration works
but we miss paper
The video and the music bring a delicious lightness
(anti-academism?)
but also a form of artistic dandyism
(preciosity?)
Roshan Di Puppo