BIO
°Kapellen, Belgium, 1980
Lives and works in Ghent, Belgium
Johan Gelper (°1980) is a visual artist from Ghent, Belgium. His works, often related to the surrounding architecture, can be assembled, disassembled and adapted to their surroundings. He creates "dismountable spatial drawings" that transform found objects such as chairs, panels and screen frames into new yet evocative forms that play with our perception of gravity and space. Through this exploration, organic movement is exposed and accentuated.
Gelper changes and transforms objects we often overlook, inviting us to see them in a new light and relate to them aesthetically. Their reorganization questions the value society assigns to these objects and the way they give meaning to the places and times we live in. Fascinated by the possibility of objects becoming something else, releasing previous associations and taking on new forms, he seeks to explore how this transformation can lead to expanded perspectives that connect the immaterial world to the reality of tangible objects.
More than just aesthetically pleasing, the spatial drawings enchant the eye and guide our gaze along the curves of their reused contours, reimagining the ordinary, creating something unique. Rakes, carts, vices or furniture legs become open sculptures that take on a whole new life. The dynamic compositions of these sculptures invite the viewer to explore, they take our gaze with them as they circle around often unpredictable bases where everyday objects are reused, with a conscious nod to the utilitarian function their parts once had.