Panique à la Basiliek

Panique à la Basiliek from Dimitri Strobbe on Vimeo.

After showing Marc Van Cauwenbergh's colorful paintings, I am thrilled to share with you the work of two Brussels amateur video makers, Dimitri and Graham. I love their short film "Panique à la Basiliek" and hope you will too. The Basilica of Koekelberg, in the Northern part of Brussels, is one of the largest art deco churches in the word. http://www.basilicakoekelberg.be/documents/home.xml?lang=en http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_the_Sacred_Heart,_Brussels

Marc Van Cauwenbergh

Friends of the painter invited me to accompany them to the Brussels' opening of  Marc Van Cauwenberg's exhibition "Champs colorés", tonight in Brussels' rue Haute, close to the Sablon.  
Marc, who is originally from Belgium, has lived in New York City since 1994. 
This reviewer eloquently describes Marc's work.
http://www.re-title.com/artists/marc-vancauwenbergh.asp: "At ease with his visual vocabulary, Van Cauwenbergh succeeds in capturing a variety of expressions as his works can range from almost soothingly serene to dramatically fierce. What prevails, no matter what the sentiment, is Van Cauwenbergh’s keen understanding of restrained gesture. In his world less is more and so he sends his images off to materialize in front of each viewer as a unique mirage".
I very much enjoyed his work, with its thin intricate layers of oil paint and an absolutely gorgeous color palet, as I hope you can tell from what I am showing here.  It was also pretty cool to meet Marc, who in addition to being a talented artist, is an interesting and sympathetic man. 
If  you are in town, I highly recommend you make it a point to see Marc's works.

CHAMPS COLORÉS

Marc VAN CAUWENBERGH
Peinture / Schilderijen
Gérald VATRIN
Verre / Glaskunst 

15.06 > 27.07.2013
Vernissage:
zaterdag 15 juni van 15 tot 19 uur
le samedi 15 juin à partir de 15 h

MH Gallery, Hoogstraat 11 Rue Haute, 1000 Brussels

Contact: Mathilde Hatzenberger
Tél : 00 32 2 611 51 70 / Mob 00 32 478 84 89 81
mh@mathildehatzenberger.eu
www.mathildehatzenberger.eu Mathilde Hatzenberger Gallery, www.mathildehatzenberger.eu
 http://marcvancauwenbergh.net/

Madame Chapeau

Madame Chapeau, a fictif and famous character of folklore, used to be performed on a regular basis in Brussels theater.  While the role was traditionally given to male artists, 
"she" has been honored by the city of Brussels as a bronze sculpture by artist Tom Frantzen decorates one of the rue du Midi street corners.

The litteral translation in English of the bilingual commemorative plaques reads:

"Madame Chapeau"
Famous character in one of the mascot plays
of the Royal Gallery Theatre
"Bossemans and Coppenolle",
which showed the sporting competition
between the football teams
the Saint Gilles Union and
the Daring Club of Brussels.

Sculpture by artist Tom Frantzen 

Maroesjka Lavigne

Congratulations to Maroesjka Lavigne, winner of the Grand Prize of Lens Culture 

STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2013

"Maroesjka Lavigne (b.1989, Belgium) gained her masters in Photography at Ghent University in the summer of 2012. Her work has been shown at the Foam Talent exhibition in Amsterdam, Netherlands, The Photoacademy award in Den Haag, Netherlands, and 44 gallery in Bruges, Belgium. For ‘ísland’, the project Lavigne made in 2012, she spent four months in Iceland, driving on her own through the desolate snow-covered and blossoming landscapes of winter and spring, looking for those moments when colour, light and the subject merge into the perfect image. She self-published this work as a book (200 copies) called ‘ísland’. She is currently living and working in Ghent, Belgium".

http://www.maroesjkalavigne.be/about/

http://lensculture.com/

City parking

Parking in Brussels is a daily challenge. Some do find an inventive solution and get by. Others, like our Italian friend here, were not that fortunate.

Sunday biking

When the weather is nice, this is what people do here or at least what I see people doing, all over Belgium, on Sunday afternoons, in all forms and shapes... . Is it for fun, sports, exercise, leisure,  pleasure, socializing? Does it really matter? 

Raymond in Bruges

I not often recommend restaurants, shops, bakers etc.  because so many bloggers out there do that better than I ever could. I did, however, enjoy Brasserie Raymond so much that I can't wait to show and tell and make an exception. I wish I had paid attention when I was snapshotting around but this will hopefully give you an idea. 

If you visit Bruges, do yourself a favor and visit Raymond. A few steps from the breathtakingly beautiful market,  you feel relaxed and at home while you enjoy "contemporary and popular luxury where nothing is left to chance because quality is the motto.. anyone who manages to find a seat on the terrace, when the weather is nice, feels like a King" 

http://www.brasserie-raymond.be/index.asp?langue=EN&DocID=142979