[TANK EXHIBITION] Interview with Sophie Whettnall 

Convex/Concave: Belgian Contemporary Art
Curated by Dirk Snauwaert and Charlotte Friling
October 31st, 2019 - January 12th, 2020
Convex or concave directions - in perception, perspectives and reflections - have come to symbolize the multiple exchanges and interrelations of subjectivity. These reflections, stand-ins for the dualism in subjectivity, symbolize the opposing tendencies of an inner self vis-à-vis an outer world - of a gaze turned inwards in contemplation - and of an extrovert and engaging gaze turned outwards. This dualism, defining of the very conception of subjectivity or identity and of the self, is the lens through which this gathering of contemporary Belgian artists has been organized, since that dualism captures a general characteristic, not only of modernity, but also of the artistic endeavors, and singularity, of Belgian artists. In addition, the choice for this organizing principle finds echoes in the ways in which Chinese artists and intellectuals have tackled modes of representation and dominant paradigms and, in so doing, have transformed the convex-concave dialectics into playful or meditative attitudes to self-awareness.
About the Artist:
Sophie Whettnall (b. 1973 in Belgium, where she lives and works) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work is greatly influenced by painting, landscape in particular, and its durational sensorial experience. Through performance, installation and film, she explores the relationship of the body to its surroundings. Whettnall’s works are silent exercises in contemplation, yet they are also often performative in their activation of the beholder. Her main material is light and its elusive, disorienting and seductive effects. With it she teases our most important sense, sight, and questions the idea that seeing equals understanding.
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