24h/24 7j/7

Benoit Jacquemin (winner of multiple prizes since 2019, including the Macors and Out of the Box prizes from Médiatine 2022, and exhibitor in multiple places and cities in Belgium and all over the world) here moves into Liège, his hometown, which still knows too little about the talent of this artist trained in Brussels.

A powerful stimulant of our imagination, the night has often inspired artists. It is no coincidence that Benoit Jacquemin moves into an empty window located in the passage Lemonnier, the oldest shopping mall in Belgium. The artwork designed in situ, in transparency, is integrated into this space – formerly a symbol of Liège luxury, nowadays sadly more and more deserted – to confront various realities and urban temporalities of our “cité ardente” (burning city). Different games of light and materials evoke the signage of a night shop.

The night shop: luminous Eldorado in the night when everything is closed for some. The night shop: aesthetic repellent to be eradicated from our streets for others (municipalities multiply taxes and restrictive measures on the installation of these local shops to «limit the nuisance to the local residents» or against the «negative image» such as in Antwerp).

This precious sculpture teases the common imagination of the observer. The artwork juxtaposes and synthesizes in one place the disparate experiences (temporal, economic, social and aesthetic) of a city, between carelessness and precariousness.

This collage work is reminiscent of the work of editing in the field of cinema, and more precisely the “urban symphonies”* which sought to transcribe the simultaneity and diversity of urban life. Even if it teases a social reality of the city, the artwork remains nevertheless autonomous. All in rhythm, it is the setting for a rhythmic intrigue of colorful architecture and musicality.