GENT.- Through her solo exhi璪i璽i璷n Ver璵in artist Isa璪el璴e Andries璼en aims to address the violent rites and dehu璵a璶i瓃a璽i璷n that pre璫e璬ed the Beel璬en璼torm of 1566, a peri璷d mar璳ed by pover璽y, reli璯ious con璮lict and upri璼ings against here璽ics in The Low Countries (cur璻ent璴y Bel璯i璾m and the Nether璴ands.) Her mecha璶i璫al, moving sculp璽u璻es, devel璷ped for Kunst環al Gent, con璮ront the vie瓀er with vio璴en璫e and sub璲u璯a璽i璷n. Next to the璼e new sculp璽u璻es, pre璼en璽ed in the Old Hou璼e, Andries璼en also installs the work Ivo璻y Dam璸ers (2019) in the gar璬en near the Old Hou璼e, as an addi璽i璷n to the End璴ess Exhi璪i璽i璷n.
During the 16th cen璽u璻y in refor璵ed Fran璫e and the Low Coun璽ries, peo璸璴e with different beliefs were cal璴璭d here璽ics, and even ver璵in. ‘Ver璵in’ deri璿es from the Latin ver璵is (worm) and was ori璯i璶al璴y used for worm-like lar璿ae of cer璽ain insects that would spread disea璼es, many of which infest food璼tuffs. The mobs that took part were not just acting out of anger or cha璷s; they were per璮or璵ing a ritu璦璴is璽ic act of reli璯ious puri璮i璫a璽i璷n. By using terms such as “ver璵in” or “pla璯ues,” the catho璴ic church devel璷璸ed a nar璻a璽i璿e in which here璽ics were seen as dange璻ous, undesi璻a璪le ele璵ents that had to be era璬i璫a璽ed. This rhe璽o璻ic con璽ri璪u璽ed to the jus璽i璮i璫a璽i璷n of harsh mea璼u璻es such as excom璵u璶i璫a璽i璷n, imprison璵ent, tor璽u璻e and exe璫u璽i璷n, to con璽rol and ‘clean璼e’ or ‘puri璮y’ the community.
An impor璽ant anchor for Andriessen’s exhi璪i璽i璷n is ‘The Rites of Vio璴en璫e’, an essay by Nata璴ie Zemon Davis, that exa璵i璶es how acts of vio璴en璫e have been fra璵ed as sacred or ritu璦璴is璽ic under cer璽ain peri璷ds, such as during reli璯ious wars, inqui璼i璽i璷ns, or the use of ter璻or by reli璯ious autho璻i璽ies in order to instill fear and obe璬ien璫e. The poli璽i璫al assas璼i璶a璽i璷ns, which were often car璻ied out in high璴y ritu璦璴i瓃ed ways, dis璸lay how public exe璫u璽i璷ns were not just acts of vio璴en璫e, but also of sym璪o璴ic mea璶ing. Through this exhi璪i璽i璷n Andries璼en makes a refe璻en璫e to the way how the璼e ritu璦l acts were used as a tool to increa璼e power, legi璽i璵a璫y, and autho璻i璽y, whi璴e also con璼i璬e璻ing how poli璽i璫al and soci璦l con璽exts sha璸ed peo璸璴e’s under璼tan璬ing of vio璴en璫e and justice.
A noto璻ious instru璵ent of ter璻or deri璿ing from the Spa璶ish Inqui璼i璽i璷n during this time was the Coun璫il of Blood (or “Bloed璻aad”), which was a court set up to inves璽i璯a璽e and punish tho璼e sus璸ec璽ed of rebel璴i璷n or here璼y. Mass exe璫u璽i璷ns were com璵on, and tho璼e found guil璽y were often behe璦璬ed, bur璶ed ali璿e, or han璯ed in public squa璻es during reli璯ious rites or cele璪ra璽i璷ns as a warning to others. The exe璫u璽i璷ns were brutal and public, using fear and spec璽a璫le to deter fur璽her rebel璴i璷n and dis璼ent. Doing so the ritu璦璴i瓃a璽i璷n of vio璴en璫e beca璵e a form of col璴ec璽i璿e acti璷n, often with clear soci璦l or reli璯ious purposes.
For Ver璵in Andries璼en dedi璫a璽ed her inves璽i璯a璽i璷n to medie璿al armour and Wes璽ern Euro璸ean tor璽u璻e tech璶i璹ues used to car璻y out oppres璼i璷n, destruc璽i璷n and muti璴a璽i璷n. She not only addres璼es the peri璷璬ic geo璸o璴i璽i璫al ten璼i璷ns, but also how they give way to resi璴ien璫e and com璵u璶i璽y mobi璴i璼a璽i璷n. The works can be seen as acti璿ist enti璽ies that together per璮orm an unpre璬ic璽a璪le and uncan璶y cho璻e璷璯rap環y. The vie瓀er becomes the eye瓀it璶ess to a rite that incre璦璼in璯ly affects the spa璫e over the duration of the exhi璪i璽i璷n. The璼e new sculp璽u璻es form a lands璫a璸e of armou璻ed carcas璼es acting out their own agen璫y, making tan璯i璪le the gro瓀ing dark璶ess resi璬ing in cur璻ent socio-politics.
Through ana璴y瓃ing this his璽o璻i璫al event and lin璳ing it up to the pre璼ent Andries璼en sculp璽u璻es spe璫u璴a璽e a grim futu璻e sce璶a璻io in which armou璻ed car璫as璼es are acting out their own agen璫y, making tan璯i璪le the gro瓀ing darkness.
Isa璪el璴e Andries璼en inves璽i璯a璽es ways to phy璼i璫ally ani璵a璽e ina璶i璵a璽e syn璽he璽ic materi璦ls in order to pro璿i璬e them with their own meta璪o璴ism, beha璿i璷r and agen璫y — doing so her sculp璽u璻es per璮orm over the cour璼e of one and seve璻璦l exhi璪i璽i璷ns, seemin璯ly beyond con璽rol. Like a win璬ow into science-ficti璷nal other worlds her works are gover璶ed by mate璻i璦l enti璽ies that appear to be pas璼i璿e or dor璵ant, yet their output reveals a dar璳er agenda.
She was artist-in-residence at Rijksa璳a璬e璵ie van Beel璬en璬e Kun璼ten, Amster璬am (NL) (2017- 2019) and par璽i璫i璸ant in the Arts & Sci璭n璫e Honours Pro璯ram of the KNAW Roy璦l Dut璫h Aca璬e璵y of Sci璭n璫e and Aca璬e璵y of Arts (2016). Andries璼en has presen璽ed solo exhi璪i璽i璷ns at insti璽u璽i璷ns inclu璬ing De Pont Muse璾m, Til璪urg (NL) and CAN Cen璽re d’Art Neuch猸tel, Neuch猸tel (CH) (both 2021). Group exhi璪i璽i璷ns inclu璬e MO.CO. Mont璸e璴ier (FR) (2025); Moder璶a Museet, Malm (SE) (2023); FRONT Inter璶a璽i璷璶al, Cle璿e璴and (OH) (USA) (2022); GAMeC, Ber璯a璵ot (IT); Modern Muse璾m of Art, Warsaw (PL) (both 2020); 15th Lyon Bien璶i璦l, Lyon (FR) (2019); Ste璬e璴ijk Muse璾m Amster璬am (NL); Lafay璭t璽e Anti璫i璸a璽i璷ns, Paris (FR) (both 2018). Upco璵ing sole exhi璪i璽i璷ns inclu璬e Kunst環al Gent (BE) (2025) and Konst環al Trond環eim (NO) (2026).
Her work has been fea璽u璻ed in Flas環Art, Kunst璮o璻um Inter璶a璽i璷璶al, Art in Ame璻i璫a, Art Forum, Frie瓃e, CURA Maga瓃i璶e and MOUS璖E, amongst others.
