Travel, come, go, discover, explore… Beyond the act of assembling and perhaps creating a collection, the art lover, as he contemplates a work, also contemplates his inner self. Because there are as many ways to collect as there are collectors, and as many reasons to love, to be disturbed, touched, upset or questioned as there are works of art, this exhibit is an expression of intimacy, dreams, and introspection. No room for judgment, for generally accepted ideas, or for official lines or biases, but rather praise for the freedom of contemplation. Embarking on the theme of Inner Journeys, our guest collectors have externalized their dreams and intimate journeys, both literally and figuratively. Each voyage is a personal experience just as each collection often represents multiple journeys: Cédric and Cookie Liénart speak to us about any and all of their feelings and all manners in which they can be expressed. Just like Antoine de Galbert, whose selection depicts his solitary but eminently free journey into the art of collecting, and in his own way, draws his self-portrait. Then there is Galila, whose journeys through the many themes running in her collection provide us with an anthology and an outline of her rich personality, for in the works that surround her, she has “deposited a fragment of (her) intimate life.” We ourselves intuitively understand that the works we love to live with are unquestionably filled with dreams, escapes, and calls for us to meditate. Irrespective of our tastes, we have all found ourselves in our freedom of choice, our thirst for emotion and, through introspection, a way of looking “within oneself” that is synonymous with the collection. Because ultimately, we are all talking about ourselves, and are revealing ourselves through the works we put on display. Finally, Cris Brodahl seemed such an obvious choice for our current theme. The works by this eminently secretive artist, whose unique universe is filled with references to another era, punctuate the entire exhibit. She speaks to us of silence, of time that inexorably goes by, and of indescribable albeit essential impressions that cross our lives. Her introspective work is the epitome of Inner Journeys. Because Inner Journeys depicts in some fashion the portraits of the guest collectors, for the first time at Maison Particulière, every collector is being offered a room dedicated solely to their works, to be displayed and arranged according to their own agenda. Our hope and reasoning was for all to be given “carte blanche,” in the full sense of the word, throughout “Inner Journeys” so as to reinforce the individual dimension of every collection. Each one of us also selected the literary excerpts illustrating our selected works. Within the selected works, 4Net Inox (2012) by Elias Crespin. Maison Particulière rue du Châtelain 49 Brussels, Belgium www.maisonparticuliere.be
