Celluloid Brushes

‘Celluloid Brushes’ is a growing archive of the filmic perception of the artist from 1936 till today. Initiated by and shown for the first time in 2011 at the contemporary art space Etablissement d’en Face in Brussels, it comprises over a hundred titles. For each film an artist was invited to make a poster. The main premise for the selection of these films and television series is that they are about an artist, whether fictional or existing. The anthology is ordered according to the historical chronology of its subject (Giotto comes before Michelangelo etc.) or – in the case of fiction – according to the year in which the movie takes place or was made in.

‘Celluloid Brushes’ was subsequently presented in Rotterdam (Witte de With), Berlin (Isabella Bortolozzi Gallery), New York (Ludlow 38) and Porto (Culturgest), and now returns to Etablissement d’en Face. With each presentation they add new titles to the database and invite new artists. The project resembles something of an amateur sci-fi or horror movie club, making their own posters for their weekly program, appropriating their favoured subject through its announcement, the announcement as a format in its own right.

Etablissement d’en Face is a collective based in Brussels, currently consisting of Olivier Foulon, Steinar Haga Kristensen, Jean-Paul Jacquet, Zin Taylor, Margaux Schwarz, Harald Thys, Michael Van den Abeele, Margot Vanheusden, Peter Wächtler and Etienne Wynants. Since 1991, Etablissement d’en Face has been organizing exhibitions, screenings and talks at its own non-institutional and non-commercial venue, currently at rue Ravenstein in the centre of Brussels.

The exhibition runs from 7 September until 28 October at Etablissement d’en Face.