David Claerbout

donated by the artist

Some recent solo exhibitions
Museum De Pont, Tilburg 2009, 'The Shape of Time'
MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge 2008
Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, 2008
Yvon Lambert Gallery, New York 2008, 'Then Came This'
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris 2007
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven 2005, 'David Claerbout: zes video-installaties van de Belgische kunstenaar'

Some recent group exhibitions
Shanghai Art Museum, 2009, 'A story of the image'
ArtFocus 5th Edition, Jerusalem 2008

Selected publications
Christine Van Assche (ed.), David Claerbout: the shape of time, Zurich: JRP/Ringier 2008
David Green, David Claerbout, Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walter König 2005
Kurt Vanbelleghem (ed.), David Claerbout: video works, photographic installations, sound installations, drawings, 1996-2000, Brussels: A-prior 2002

Selected public and corporate collections
MUHKA, Antwerp, BE • SMAK, Ghent, BE • Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, NL • Museum De Pont, Tilburg, NL • Arc Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, FR • Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, FR• Emanuel Hoffmann Stiftung, Basel, CH • MUDAM, Luxembourg, LU • Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, DE

This work is in excellent condition.
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David Claerbout has cultivated a distinctive body of work, transforming still photographs into moving images, and bringing video films to a complete standstill. The boundaries between photography and video collapse. His video projections demonstrate clear affinities with painting and photography. They underline his intuitive grasp of the correct proportions of the two-dimensional plane. The meticulously balanced composition, high contrast light and stillness of his images recall the paintings of Edward Hopper. And yet (and this is where he is streets ahead of the masters of the static image) it is the almost imperceptible movements within a registered moment that give his work heightened impact. Time passing is a fundamental theme in his work. Claerbout uses old photographs, manipulating them by digitally activating details. The use of new technology in his work may be minimal, but it has a huge effect on the viewer. As draughtsman and painter Claerbout tired of the medium; as self-taught photographer his intention was to use new media to push the boundaries.

David Claerbout is advisor at the Rijksakademie and was a resident artist in 1996.