Ilke Cop & Luca Vanello

'Folded : Whites'
Installation of paintings, textile works and sculpture, made in situ
2022

In the months leading up to Folded : Whites, Ilke Cop moved her studio to Pilar's exhibition space. The works she produced here were therefore created in relation to the space.
Flowing fabrics and round shapes contrast with the sleek architecture.
The artist limits her color palette for this exhibition to green and white. White as an echo of the white box of the exhibition space, an often challenged, yet cherished concept in contemporary art. But choosing white means much more: “White is a luxury, a privilege,” Cop says, “it expects a certain sterility and care and that's not something that everyone can afford.” The link to the issue of white privilege, a common theme in Cop's practice, is quickly made, but the concept of gender inequality is also touched upon here. White is the color of purity, virginity, something that is expected of the feminine, but also the title Folded : Whites immediately brings to mind the household tasks traditionally performed by women.
Green textiles contrast with this, hinting at the artist's usually exuberant color palette.
Cop experiments with new forms and media. Her first sculptural work, a bust of the artist herself is presented here. However, a movement towards more abstraction can be noticed in the smaller paintings. The boundary between the decorative and the substantive is brought to a head and sometimes disappears completely. By integrating substances as partitions in the space, this boundary is explored even more.

Ilke Cop

Ilke Cop (°1988) is an art historian, launched her own fashion label in 2015 and started her art practice in 2019. Through paintings and installations she creates large-scale contemporary allegories in which self-portraits play a central role. In addition to representing the female artist throughout art history, themes such as privilege, materialism and Belgium's colonial past are discussed. Her early art career has already resulted in very beautiful projects, such as inclusion in the Kunstenfestival Watou, Pass & Belgicart and a solo exhibition at Tatjana Pieters in Ghent. During the spring of 2022 she showed work at NADA New York and will show at NADA Miami this fall.

Ilke Cop on IG

www.ilkecop.com

Limping sensor, welcome. Drenched in nectar, pistil renders powerless (2)Plants processed by removing chlorophyll, molded petg, various snake chains, materially reversed 3d prints of animal prothesis.2022

In his practice, Luca Vanello investigates how we can achieve new forms of 'togetherness' through art. In doing so, he questions the predominance of the human perspective. He creates hybrid sculptures where organic material fused with plastics form a new body. How does humanity relate to the changing environment to which it belongs? Both technological and organic materials are part of this issue. Plant leaves that he uses in his work are transformed. After a soak in a chemical bath, the chlorophyll that retains the green color disappears. The leaves are then hung to dry before being treated with a natural oil. The organic material comes to a standstill but the shape is preserved. It makes us think about how humanity often intervenes in natural processes and harbors ambitions to extend life as long as possible.

Luca Vanello

Luca Vanello is an Italian-Slovene artist living in Brussels. He graduated from the Universität der Künste Berlin with Professor Gregor Schneider and with an MFA from the Slade School of Fine Arts, London. He has recently completed the residency at the HISK, Ghent, in 2021.

Selected exhibtions include: KW Institute for Contemporary Art, (3 ½) Berlin (solo), M HKA, Antwerp, Extra City, Antwerp, Netwerk Aalst, Aalst; Kunstenfestival Watou 2021, Watou; Sonsbeek 2020-2024 Conjunction with HISK, Arnhem; MUSEION (Casa Atelier), Bolzano (solo); Centre de la Gravure et de L’Image imprimeé La Louvière; CIAP, Genk; Qalandiya International Biennale, Ramallah; Fondazione Ratti, Como; Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada.

Luca Vanello on IG

www.lucavanello.com