OV Project (en-US)

curated by Jean-François Octave and Olivier Vrankenne,
scenography by Kendell Geers,

performance by Joana Preiss, between 7 & 8 pm on April 23.

Gene Beery, Constantin Brâncuși, Francesca Casu, Tony Catani, Larry Clark, Ken Domon, Sam Durant, James Ensor, Mario Garcia Torres, Kendell Geers, David Hammons, Takahashi Kanzan, Louise Lawler, Judy Linn / Patti Smith, Bernd Lohaus, Valerie Mannaerts, Allan McCollum, Adam McEwen, Richard Nonas, Jean-François Octave, Badrinath Pandit, Irving Penn, Joana Preiss, Richard Prince, Sam Samore, Betty Tompkins, Banks Violette, Andy Warhol...

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Two years after John Coltrane recorded his seminal suite, “A Love Supreme,” he visited Japan. The 1966 trip culminated in a pilgrimage to Nagasaki, a city devastated by the atomic blast. Coltrane, who had already begun to understand his music as a force for healing, justice and transcendence, was profoundly impacted by his experience there.

The exhibition’s title emerged intuitively, drawing dually on Colrtane’s work, and Andy Warhol’s 1963 silkscreen “Red Explosion (or Atomic Bomb),” and the lasting echo of Nagasaki. It is an exploration, how an encounter with both immense suffering and resilience can shape evolving artistic visions.

“A LOVE SUPREME” is a meditation on spirituality, memory and resistance in the shadow of global trauma. Inspired by Coltrane’s longing for universal peace, the exhibition invites audiences to reflect on the intersections of artistic practices as the pursuit of a higher truth in challenging times.

While Coltrane’s spiritual awakening — from personal chaos, addiction, and his relationship with Alice, to civil rights, mysticism, and ultimately his visit to Nagasaki — resonates with the exhibition’s atmosphere, it came into the picture only later in the proposal. Curated by Jean-François Octave and Olivier Vrankenne, with scenography by Kendell Geers, and with an opening performance by Joana Preiss, “A LOVE SUPREME” unfolds to the geopolitical reverberations of 20th-century violence, asking urgent questions about the artist’s role in a fractured world.

Assessing this moment in time: it becomes clear that a lack of altruism has led to the unraveling of politics, economics and humanity. The works selected — across music, performance, images, language, poetry and silence — touch on themes of sex, violence, rage, ancestral memory, resistance, faith, and rebellion. From Patti Smith to Buddhism, from native struggles to punk provocations, like Kendell Geers’ “FUCK”, the exhibition seeks to hold space for dissonance as a path to empathy.

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LOVE / TRANSLATION / TRANSMISSION / TEARS / US / APART / AGAIN / ANGST / CRACKS / I WANT YOU / SHADOWS / WOMAN / ALWAYS / FEAST / HASTA / SIEMPRE / REVOLUCION / HURRICANE / DREAM / X / RIGHTS / AMBIGUITIES / REMOVE / EXTRÊME / CENSURE / DESTRUCTION / RAINBOW / ACTION / OTHER (S) / VITAL / CONNECTION / VIRAL / CRITICAL / POSSIBLE / RIOT / IMPULSE / ART / ERROR / HIDDEN / LIGHT / REVERSE / INSIGNIFICANT / PENSÉE / TRUST / HUMANIZE / DARKNESS / SILENCE / SIGNIFIANCE / LIFE / DEATH / ANARCHIE / BRAVE / FOLIE / UNEXPECTED / LOVE / MUSIQUE / COMPASSION / POETRY / THÉRAPIE / RESILIENCE / FEAR / DEPRESSION / SADNESS / HOPE / FOOL / DEMONSTRATION / PROTESTATION / REVOLUTIE / CEASE / FIRE / NOW / FORGIVENESS / MASS / MURDERS / THE OTHER / POSSIBLE / SACRIFICE / CONNECTION / BLACK / KUNST / INDEPENDENCE / CRÉATION / CENSORSHIP / MODERN / SLAVERY / FUCK / TRUTH / FREEDOM / BE / DEPENDENCE / VIOLENT FAME / ILLUSION / DREAM / THE OTHERS / ADDICTION / HATE / DESTROY / ÂME / DÉSILLUSION / DESIRE / SENSUALITY / FEELING / DECADENCE / FORWARD / BEAUTY / DÉCONNEXION / UGLINESS / WHITE / HOPE / DESPAIR / COUNTER / EMPATHY / CULTURE / MOGELIJK / EMPTINESS / PLENTY / JOYFUL / TXT / PERFECT DAY / SOLITUDE / UNDERGROUND / BEAT / COUNTERCULTURE / BLANK / GENERATION / SENSITIVITY / ANXIETY / HEDONISM / SORDID / MADNESS / CŒUR / OPENNESS / ANGRY / OBLIQUES / STRATEGIES / NATIVES / COSMIC / PERFORMANCE / GESTURE / ÊTRE / ANGOISSE / BALANCE / GET OUT / COME BACK / STAY AWAY / WORDS / RUTH / WE THE PEOPLE / DISCIPLINE / TRANSMISSION / CONTROL / YOU / ALIEN / IMMORTALITY / IMMORALITY / (NO) FUTURE / RÊVE / RÉVOLTE / GENRE / ILLUSIONS / NEXT / ...