The museum of Fine Arts organizes a big retrospective exhibition of Panamarenko’s work (Panamarenko was born in 1940). It is the first complete retrospective of Panamarenko’s important and variegated work.

In his art works Panamarenko brings the wonderful world of technics and natural sciences back to life. In this way the dream of free and unhindered move, and the aesthetic aspect of the scientific analysis regain their place in the world they belong to: the world of the human being determining its position within the nature. In his projects the artist freely and inventively plays with the formal rules of mechanics and physics.

Owing to the unrestrained development of scientific knowledge the complexity of the idea of nature did also proportionally increase. This is the reason of the paradox that the human being of today is alienated from nature of which it nevertheless always deepened its knowledge. Joining Panamarenko we can now rediscover the riveting nature appearances and potentialities in the objects, drawings and sketches in which he has hidden a poetic approach to the world. His creative relationship with the gravitation laws is not aimed at taking off from the ground but at giving back to flying the poetic attraction it had when we were not yet able to fly.

Panamarenko belongs to the very little circle of worldwide admired artists with very personal, intriguing works which uneasily can be ranked in the usual categories and for which the Belgian art has gained a great reputation in the post war international art world.

Just like it occurred with the former big monographic exhibitions organized by the museum as well the common spectators as the advanced searcher will be delighted by a large spectrum of the artist’s complete works. In addition to an extensive and representative selection of the sometimes very big works and installations an exceptional choice of drawings, sketches, projects and models are also displayed. The exhibition contains a striking collection of documents, catalogues, journals, various prints and writings that will give an image of the artist’s time which is always appreciated by as well the common spectators as the experts.

This retrospective was organized in close co-operation with the artist. It shows loans from renowned private and public collections that could exceptionally be brought together for this exhibition only.