Johan Muyle, Ni Un Paso Altras!, Scultpure mobile. Assemblage, Mixed media, 1000/2000/850 mm, 2008 ©Johan MUYLE, Photo: P. H. / J. M.

Portrait of Johan Muyle, © Johan Muyle, Photo : P. H. / J. M.

Centre
for Fine Arts
10, rue Royale Koningsstraat 10
Brussels
02 507 82 00
Johan Muyle,
Sioux
in Paradise
June 12-
September 21,
2008

Sioux in Paradise brings together a score of recent, previously unseen sculptures by the Belgian artist Johan Muyle. On the one hand, clones of the artist (moulded self-portraits), life-size dressed skeletons, robots that react to the approach of each visitor. On the other, mobile armchairs that carry a luminous message. Finally, a series of "animated mural sculptures" with video screens. Models and drawings, never before exhibited, give an overview of the sculptor's work.

Johan Muyle lives and works in Liege (Belgium) and in Valenciennes (France) is one of the most active Belgian artists on the international scene. He is known equally well for his assemblages made from heterogeneous objects and for his large-scale installations. Evoking ironic situations and referencing popular expressions, the latter frequently employ derisive humor as a means of coming to grips with complex social and political issues.

Composed of diverse elements, Muyle’s works frequently include movement, sound and/or light, elements which at first sight make the pieces seem carnivalesque. The tangible components generally consist of found objects, flea market finds, and paintings executed by others. For instance, Muyle’s commissioned the Cine Banners Painters in Madras, India, creators of billboard portraits advertising popular movies, to execute large-scale paintings from images he provided. Muyle followed their work closely before incorporating it into his own kinetic installations.

Johan Muyle’s art is imbued with humanist values--most notably, respect for the Other. Without proposing solutions, he questions the world and induces his audience to reflect upon the issues raised in his work. For instance, Muyle treats the subject of human differences in such a way as to evoke the notion of coexistence rather than of opposition. For him, mixed-race and cross-cultural identities are emphatically positive attributes, and it is this complementarity of differences (sociological, cultural, religious, philosophical, etc.) to which his work alludes. Juxtaposing contradictory ideas which complete rather than oppose one another, and consistently privileging inquiry over assertion, Muyle presents a participatory, ethical and poetic view of alterity.