CERTIFIED COPY

Janieta Eyre (CA)

1989. The American artist Larry Miller, a member of the Fluxus movement, distributes certificates to allow anyone to decide on the use, or not, of their DNA. The action, which relates the art scene to contemporary biotechnological problems, would precede the birth of Dollie, the first cloned mammal in the world, by a decade.

In a world where numerous multinationals multiply data banks destined to the patented reproduction of genetical information, the Verbeke Foundation organises an exhibition on the notions of copying and cloning. Certified Copy, open to the public from November 20, 2010 to April 10, 2011 unites the works of over twenty international contempary artists who are concerned in the question of the reproduction of living and lifeless materials.

From delftware from the museum of Leiden over the masterpieces of Hirst, Murakami or Cattelan, to fluorescent transgenic fishes, all presented works give us the possibility to draw a parallel between both contemporary artistic and scientific practices. The letters of the Coco Chanel logo on the exhibition poster also evoke daily counterfeited products, and the expressions of Certified Copy, Carbon Copy and Creative Commons. In fact, the exhibition adopts a critical viewpoint on the motivations for reproducing works and living organisms, and on the stipulations of this reproduction in our globalised, industrial and capitalistic society.

ARTISTS:

Art Orienté objet (FR)

Cristian Bors & Marius Ritiu (RO)

Stijn Belle (NL)

Adam Brandejs (CA)

Ondrej Brody (CZ) & Kristofer Paetau (FI)

Leo Copers (BE)

Paul Cornelis (NL)

Hugo Draulans (BE)

Constant Dullaart (NL)

Janieta Eyre (CA)

Andrea Fraser (US)

Bram Geers (NL)

Ni Haifeng (CN)

Mateusz Herczka (SE)

Theo Jansen (NL), Ad Lakerveld (NL) & Kurt Van Houtte (BE)

Natalie Jeremijenko (US)

Eduardo Kac (US)

Thomas Lommée (BE)

L.A. Raeven (NL)

Joachim Rotteveel (NL)

Louis Sassoye, Marie-Paule Wilbert, Filippe Langenbick & Cie (BE)

Ad Schouten (NL)

Lieven Standaert (BE)

Martin uit den Bogaard (NL)

Maarten Vanden Eynde (BE)

Jason van der Woude (NL)

Koen Vanmechelen (BE)

Jonas Vansteenkiste (BE)

Alexandra Verhaest (BE)

Adam Zaretsky (US)