In 2015, Raoul De Keyser’s archives were donated to Gent University by his three sons. This legacy, comprising publications, notes, letters, photographs, and other documents, offered a fascinating view into his life, work, and international network. To make the archive accessible for further research, it has been mapped by the art students, including me, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Steven Jacobs. The exhibition Archives Raoul De Keyser at S.M.A.K. highlighted six themes: the painting as an object, the traveling Dutch exhibition Surrounding Reality (1970-1971), the exhibition Raoul De Keyser, David Rabinowitch, Philippe Van Snick, Richard Tuttle in the Gent Museum of Contemporary Art (1978), Jan Hoet’s Documenta IX (1992), Raoul De Keyser and poetry, and finally Raoul De Keyser and photography. As a co-curator, I prepared a contribution regarding the selection of the archival documents.  

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For the catalog, I wrote a text about the Dutch exhibition Surrounding Reality (1970-1971), which was De Keyser's first solo show outside of Belgium. From the Groninger Museum, the exhibition moved to Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem and the Noordbrabantse Museum in 's Hertogenbosch. The text discussed also the influence of Pop Art and Minimal Art on De Keyser's early work.

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ARTIST

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Raoul De Keyser

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CURATORS

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Steven Jacobs and students Art History Ghent University

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PRACTICAL

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Archives Raoul De Keyser

21 October 2017 - 18 February 2018

S.M.AK.

Ghent 

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