NADIA NAVEAU
June 26 - August 29, 2010

The exhibition of Nadia Naveau (°1975) in De Garage immerses the visitor in a multitude of sculptural form, colours, materials and textures. Nadia Naveau speaks the classical language of the monument as if it was her mother tongue but she has incorporated this into a reservoir of old and new fragments of images. With her small and large sculptures she approaches the classical definition of the sculptor although she doesn't necessarily work with 'traditional' materials. Her works are made of clay, porcelain, bronze, wood, polyester, rubbery silicone and plasticine and are never conventional. Heavy colours and a high-gloss finish intensify the complexity of the sculptures. It takes time to discover all the details in the organic abundance and to descry the figures in the apparent abstract jumble.

Image: Nadia Naveau, Roman Riots, 2010

JAN KEMPENAERS
June 26 - August 29, 2010

At first sight, the landscape photography of Jan Kempenaers (°1968) appears straightforward photographic, but the longer you look, the more his images deploy themselves as conceptual and not merely optical. The photos are much more than daily pictorial ideograms, they are powerful, subdued images of often everyday places. Places so familiar we don't notice them anymore. In De Garage Jan Kempenaers displays on one long wall a series of photos that each represent a piece of nature. They fall apart in two groups. One group shows rock formations. As in a great part of his photographic work these photos are strikingly sharp, of a quite large size and they manifest themselves as a clearly defined object. In the other group the artist shows photos of the woods. In this series he abandons his usual respectable distance to the subject but puts himself as a photographer in the middle of his very subject: the woods.

Image: Jan Kempenaers, zonder titel, 2010

NATALIE GIULIA WYNANTS – THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER
June 26 - August 29, 2010

In De Garage Natalia Giulia Wynants (°1974) presents for the first time an overview of her photographic work. Travelling, on tour with a band or in her own familiar environment, as a photographer she reveals a keen eye for the small moments and details. She focuses with a soft gaze, not on the big events but especially on what is happening on the sidelines. By bringing together a selection of her photos in a non-chronological, non-thematic way, she creates a certain sentiment, a specific ambiance with a melancholic twist.

Image: Natalia Giulia Wynants, Tucson/Halloween, 2007

More information:
www.cultuurcentrummechelen.be/...