Ives Maes

Oil on Tarpaulin

Unique

400 x 600 cm

Content

Ives Maes' exhibition 'For Humankind' takes us to a dystopian world. The central element of the show is the Reunited Nations canvas stretched along the wall and the floor, building a diagonal in the room reminiscent of a tent. The logo and the colors recall those of the actual United Nations flag, but in comparison to the original a good deal of the continents’ landmass is missing, with only the highest mountains still visible in the world map. This is a vision of how the planet would look like from above, if Antarctica melted and the ocean rose. In this exhibition bearing the ironic title 'For Humankind', Maes nonchalantly displays the post-atomic, post-national, climate-changed world that we already inhabit. The artist imagines a world after the collapse of the United Nations and the establishment of a new entity, the 'Reunited Nations', comprising what is left of the former nations and continents after the ecological effects of global warming. The result is a disturbing ensemble with mutations of flags that the viewer is left to decipher, with symbols evocative of an obsolete world order.

Excerpt from the text 'For Humankind' by Marina Sorbello

Project

With his RECYCLABLE REFUGEE CAMP project, Ives Maes probed the derailment of contemporary hyper-ethics. His latrines, wells, shelters and coffins, fabricated in a natural resin, raise ethics to a manic state. The Recyclable Refugee Camp tackles the ethical imperative that encourages art to intervene in the world, localizing the epicenter of a new utopia inside the boundaries of the art world itself.

Excerpt from the text ‘An economy of truth’ by Wim Peeters, published in Flash Art nr. 235, 2004

Exhibition

For Humankind

Koraalberg, Antwerp, Belgium

10/09/09 – 17/10/09

Solo-exhibition

 

Unification

Uqbar, Berlin, Germany

29/05/10 – 03/07/10

Solo-exhibition