Encounter with Raoul De Keyser

At several points in Raoul De Keyser's (°1930-2012) life, Robbrecht en Daem architecten provided a spatial intervention in function of his artworks. There were the scenographies for his work in Initiatief 86, Documenta IX, De Dingen Die Ik Zie, a spatial intervention in the artist's own studio and the creation of a bench for the Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens. Later the posthumous retrospective Oeuvre at S.M.A.K. was added. Each intervention was about creating a space for that very specific work by De Keyser - that is, for works of art that emanate a great tension and that immediately strike the eye. His works are what we could call anything but final paintings, anything but a final image. 

Special within our own architectural work process is how De Keyser’s paintings especially do not want to attach themselves to space. His work tends to have a wariness about the place it is in. It is not 'place-affirming', it almost seeks disintegration. Therefore, in the process of creating a space for these works, we beheld the artworks as satellites in space. This was a recurring phenomenon in all of De Keyser's exhibitions, no matter how different the contexts. Where Initiatief 86 had a very wide room, the paintings became almost points in space. During Documenta IX, in a room with two glass walls, his very ephemeral works became almost non-existent paintings. In all exhibitions, a seat was required in order to be able to interpret everything. The bench, the sitting and understanding became a permanent theme.