Raoul De Keyser: Oeuvre, Ghent, Belgium

After an earlier intervention in the artist's studio and scenographies for his work in Initiatief 86, Documenta IX and De Dingen Die Ik Zie, Robbrecht en Daem architecten were also responsible for the scenography of the middle space of Raoul De Keyser's first posthumous retrospective. This central room became a kaleidoscopic space, a pentagonal form with different sides. Almost like two hands, the exhibition design spatially cradled Raoul De Keyser's delicate work. 
The fragility of his work was also reflected in the way the space was constructed: thin sheets formed a kind of canopy over the works. The thickness of the whole construction consisted purely of the thickness of a plate, with an open view of the back of the structure. The unpainted, raw nature of this sheet material played on the skin-like quality of De Keyser's work. While this central space was surrounded by a series of existing rooms with the artist's wide-ranging oeuvre, it was precisely in this central space that a selection of his works of art were displayed, together representing every period of his life. Both the first and the last painting that De Keyser made were hung in this space, side by side.
Client
S.M.A.K.
Architects
Robbrecht en Daem architecten
Program
Scenography of the middle space of Raoul De Keyser's first posthumous retrospective
Location
Ghent, Belgium
Date
2018–2019
Status
Completed
Art Intervention
Raoul De Keyser