b. 1969
b. 1969
Throughout his career, the Belgian artist David Claerbout has investigated the conceptual impact of the passage of time through his use of video and digital photography. As scholar David Green has explained, “Claerbout’s work subtly proposes a relationship of similitude between film and the objective world that lies outside and beyond the narrative space of cinema. In doing so he poses a set of questions about how we experience film and about the nature of the medium itself.”
Specifically, Claerbout manipulates both moving and still imagery to suggest an otherworldly level of existence, something that might refer to a specific place or event, but the timeline of which is not clear, oscillating between both past and present. The element of sound is critical in many of the works, often used as either a narrative device or a “guide” for the viewer to navigate the architectural space in the film. Claerbout’s oeuvre is characterized by a meticulous attention to production details, painstakingly created often over a period of years. The resultant works are immersive environments in which the viewer is invited to engage both philosophically and aesthetically.
Claerbout studied at the Nationaal Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp from 1992 to 1995 and participated in the DAAD: Berlin Artists-in-Residence program from 2002 to 2003. Claerbout’s work is included in major public collections worldwide, including: Centre Georges Pompidou Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, France; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C; S.M.A.K, Ghent, Belgium; The Margulies Collection, Miami, Florida; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Collection François Pinault, Italy; FRAC Nord Pas de Calais, France; Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden, Germany; GAM Galleria D'Arte Moderna et Contemporanea, Turin, Italy and many others. He has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions internationally, including: Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh, Scotland (2018); Schaulager, Basel, Switzerland (2017); De Pont Museum of Art, Tilburg, Netherlands (2016); Kunsthalle Mainz, Mainz, Germany (2013); Secession, Vienna, Austria (2012); Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel (2012); SFMOMA, San Francisco (2011); WIELS, Brussels, Belgium (2011); De Pont museum of contemporary art, Tilburg, The Netherlands (2009); Pompidou Center, Paris, France (2007); Kunstmuseum, St. Gallen, Switzerland (2008); and Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands (2005).
David Claerbout lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium and Berlin, Germany.
David Claerbout
Birdcage (Redistribution of Colours), 2023-2024
ink, pastel and gouache on Canson Montval Aquarelle paper
paper: 29 1/2 x 43 5/16 inches (75 x 110 cm)
framed: 31 9/16 x 45 5/16 x 1 7/16 inches (80.2 x 115.1 x 3.6 cm)
(DC-122)
David Claerbout
Birdcage, 2023
single channel color video projection, stereo sound, 1h 36 min
edition of 7 with 2 APs (#7/7)
(DC-123.7)
David Claerbout
The Close, 2022
single channel video projection, black & white, 6 channel surround sound, ca. 15 min
edition of 7 with 2 APs and 1 AC (#4/7)
(DC-117.4)
David Claerbout
Aircraft (F.A.L.) set image (Time & Evolution), 2021-2022
pencil, washed Chinese ink, hand printed digital drawing, gouache on Hahnemuhle digital etching paper
paper: 24 1/16 x 43 1/8 inches (61 x 109.5 cm)
framed: 31 1/4 x 49 7/16 x 1 3/4 inches (79.4 x 125.6 x 4.4 cm)
(DC-113)
David Claerbout
The Close set image (left Conversation right), 2021-2022
pencil, washed Chinese ink, hand printed digital drawing, gouache on Hahnemuhle digital etching paper
paper: 24 1/16 x 33 3/4 inches (61 x 85.7 cm)
framed: 31 7/8 x 40 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches (81 x 102.9 x 4.4 cm)
(DC-111)
Travel (Exit), 2020
china ink, acrylic and pen
paper: 18 1/8 x 24 inches (46 x 61 cm)
framed approx: 20 3/8 x 26 ¼ x 1 ¾ inches (51.8 x 66.7 x 4.4 cm)
signed recto
DC-96
Olympia (Nothing Romantic), 2017
inkjet print, collage, tape, washed ink, acrylic paint, felt pen and pencil on cardboard
image: 24 x 44 7/8 inches (61 x 114 cm)
paper: 31 1/2 x 47 1/4 inches (80 x 120 cm)
framed: 33 3/4 x 49 11/16 x 1 3/4 inches (85.7 x 126.2 x 4.4 cm)
signed, titled and dated by artist, recto
DC-71
Olympia (Januari 2018 -4°), 2017
inkjet print, collage, tape, washed ink, acrylic paint, felt pen and pencil on cardboard
image: 16 1/2 x 22 7/16 inches (42 x 57 cm)
paper: 23 5/8 x 31 1/2 inches (60 x 80 cm)
framed: 25 3/4 x 33 5/8 x 1 3/4 inches (65.4 x 85.4 x 4.4 cm)
DC-66
David Claerbout
Die reine Notwendigkeit/The pure necessity, 2016
single channel color video projection, 2D animation, stereo sound, 50 minutes, looped
edition of 7 with 1 AP and 1 AC (#3/7) (#0/7)
(DC-67.3)
Still from Olympia (The real time disintegration into ruins of the Berlin Olympic stadium
over the course of a thousand years), 2016
two channel video installation, color, stereo sound, HD animation, 1000 years
DC-51
Olympia (Color Segregation), 2016
inkjet print, collage, tape, washed ink, acrylic paint, felt pen and pencil on cardboard
image: 23 11/16 x 29 15/16 inches (60.2 x 76 cm)
paper: 31 1/2 x 47 1/4 inches (80 x 120 cm)
framed: 34 3/8 x 50 1/8 x 1 3/4 inches (87.3 x 127.3 x 4.4 cm)
signed and dated by the artist, recto
DC-59
Still from KING (after Alfred Wertheimer's 1956 picture of a young man named Elvis Presley), 2015-2016
single channel video projection, HD animation, black & white, silent, 10 minutes
DC-50
Two Friends, 2015
washed ink and felt pen on paper
paper: 36 1/4 x 24 inches (92 x 61 cm)
framed: 38 1/2 x 26 1/4 x 1 3/4 inches (97.8 x 66.7 x 4.4 cm)
DC-30
Travel (Rays of sun), 2013
washed ink and felt pen on paper
paper: 18 1/8 x 24 inches (46 x 61 cm)
framed approx: 20 3/8 x 26 ¼ x 1 ¾ inches (51.8 x 66.7 x 4.4 cm)
signed recto “David Claerbout 27 feb 2013”
Still from Breathing Bird, 2012
two channel video on flatscreens (19 inch), color, silent
edition of 5 with 1 AP and 1 AC
DC-42
David Claerbout on “Dark Optics”, e-flux lecture, New York, March 11, 2019
David Claerbout Interview: Virtual Image Making, Louisiana Channel, April 21, 2020
EYE Filmmuseum Amsterdam: Mastertalk: David Claerbout - Dark Optics, November 24, 2018.
Arts News video featuring David Claerbout.
Interview with David Claerbout regarding his newest film, Die reine Notwendigkeit, presented at Städel Garden at the Städel Museum, Frankfurt, 2016
LIGHT/WORK at Sean Kelly, New York, 2016
LIGHT/WORK at Sean Kelly, New York, 2016