Overview

An exploration of the captivating works of Carla Arocha and Stéphane Schraenen, which reference both popular culture and Minimalism This lavishly illustrated monograph offers a comprehensive study of Arocha and Schraenen's individual works and collaborative practice since 2006. It explores their captivating works, which reference popular culture and Minimalism, and their exploration of perception and cultural themes through large-scale installations, paintings, and the photographic medium. Featuring historical and new photography of works and installations produced between 1990 and 2023, the publication delves into over 500 artworks, alongside cultural references, sketches, and archival ephemera. The book, edited by Barbara Vanderlinden, includes essays from such renowned art critics and curators as Mónica Amor, Marc Donnadieu, and Philippe Pirotte, and reprinted interviews with Arocha and Schraenen by Helen Molesworth and Hans-Ulrich Obrist. A detailed illustrated chronology, exhibition history, bibliography, and index round out this comprehensive volume. Designed by Irma Boom, the book goes beyond a traditional monograph by ""reimagining the format"" to mirror the artists' collaborative spirit. It emphasizes how Arocha and Schraenen's work utilizes mirrors to disrupt viewers' perceptions of reality.

Full Product Details

9780300283631

Table of Contents

Reviews

In Belgium, a country with a deep-rooted gusto for conceptual experimentation, Carla Arocha and Stéphane Schraenen embrace conceptual rigor while transforming space into a dynamic visual laboratory. Arocha arrived in Belgium from Caracas via Chicago before settling in Antwerp, Schraenen’s hometown. Having developed distinct solo practices prior to their partnership, they have been working together in Antwerp for more than twenty years, becoming true collaborators who explore how we perceive and live “the aesthetic” while raising new questions about art and visual culture. Their interactive installations use geometric abstraction and optical effects to merge art and design.  —Chris Dercon, Managing Director, Fondation Cartier, Paris  For more than two decades, Carla Arocha and Stéphane Schraenen have been pursuing an artistic inquiry grounded in postminimalist critique and defined by indeterminacy. Their work unfolds between sculpture, architecture, and installation, where light, material, and perception interlace in ever-shifting relations. At once rigorous and poetic, their practice dwells on the shimmering threshold between independence and collaboration. Their preoccupation with coexisting in difference extends to the duo’s exquisite explorations of perception’s variegated qualities: as a phenomenon rooted in physiology and optics; as it arises from the interactions between materials, light, the eye, and the environment; and as codified in representational conventions like perspective—all of which the artists expertly unmoor.  —Madeleine Grynsztejn, Pritzker Director,  Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago  The art of Carla Arocha and Stéphane Schraenen is an explosion of energy, strong graphics, blinding mirrors, dazzling lights, and fabulous reflections. With a playful nod to fashion and modeling, their work invites us to see, move, and experience space anew.  —Walter Van Beirendonck, Fashion Designer, Antwerp 

Author Information

Barbara Vanderlinden is an art historian and curator. Hans Ulrich Obrist is a Swiss curator, art historian, and artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries in London, known for his innovative exhibitions, marathon interviews, and influential writing on contemporary art.  Mónica Amor (Ph.D.) is professor of global modern and contemporary art (MICA). Marc Donnadieu is a curator and critic. Helen Molesworth (Ph.D.) is a prominent curator for MoCA LA and Harvard. Philippe Pirotte is an art historian, curator, and adjunct senior curator at UC Berkeley.  

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