As a flagship figure in Belgian and international fashion photography, Karel Fonteyne’s career in that genre spanned more than 15 years. His rather experimental style gave rise to pioneering images that went beyond classical fashion photography. In 1996, he decided to give up fashion photography to develop a more personal work. Karel Fonteyne is non-conformist. He plays with codes, deconstructs reality and prefers the complex to the obvious. “Generally, I don’t photograph what I see but what my mind reflects”.
The exhibition is neither linear nor chronological, but rather circular. The spectre of the present will not prevent the visitor from grasping Karel Fonteyne’s work because his images are ageless and out of time. Like a journey through the photographer’s mind, one jumps from photo to photo, from black and white to colour, from staged to spontaneous, from conceptual to fashion photography. The concept story has a direct influence on the variety of techniques. Concurrently homogeneous and heterogeneous, personal and universal, his work is an invitation to construct one’s own narrative.
Spread over the three floors of Hangar, the exhibition is composed of different chapters, where sensuality, esotericism, nature, solitude and humour combine to create a particular atmosphere of his inner world. Karel Fonteyne’s images awaken the senses and transport us into another universe. They tell a story without words.
A retrospective book entitled Spell will be published in September to coincide with the exhibition.
Biography/Born in 1950 in Antwerp, Karel Fonteyne lives and works between Belgium and abroad. Active since 1968, Karel Fonteyne began his career in art photography. He is fascinated by Tarjei Vesaas’ book “Fuglane” and by South American authors such as Borges, García Márquez and Cortázar, but also by the psychology of Bergman’s films, which got him started in photography.
He entered the fashion world at the end of the 1970s and worked for prestigious magazines such as Vogue, Interview, Bazaar, Marie-Claire etc.. He also worked with designers such as Martin Margiela, Dirk Bikkembergs, Dries Van Noten, Marina Yee, Walter Van Beirendonck and Dirk Van Saene from the outset.
His work has been exhibited in prestige venues such as the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP, Paris) (FR), Bozar (BE), Festival d’Arles (FR), Fotoforum Kassel (DE), Museo Fundació Joan Miró (ES), Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo (ES), ICC Antwerpen ( M KHA [Antwerp Museum of Contemporary Art]) (BE), Noorderlicht International Photo Festival Groningen (NL), Biennale de Photographie Condroz (BE), among others.
Karel Fonteyne has several publications to his credit: Entre chien et loup (1980), See Stars (1987), Black Earth (1990), Pistoleros (2007), Tales of Silence (2014), and Spell which will be released in September 2020.
Where: Hangar Photo Art Center
PLace du Châtelaun 18
1050 Brussels
More information: HERE
Opening days / 3 - 4 septembre 2020
Exhibition / 5 septembre – 24 octobre 2020
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