Grey Cell 2001

JCJ Vanderheyden created this grey room, called Grey Cell, with… well, who knows when! What I love about this installation is how it invites you into a quiet corner for contemplation. You can imagine Vanderheyden thinking about perspective, like a Dutch master, playing with geometric abstraction, like Mondrian. These calm colors and precise shapes, blue semi-circle, black and white rectangle, maybe they are a little bit funny, too. He worked across painting, photography, film and installations. What links his diverse practice is an attempt to flatten the world. He was trying to capture a global view, a perspective that encompasses everything! Vanderheyden’s work is about opening up space and time. Like how painters keep the conversation going, picking up ideas, turning them around, and opening up new ways of seeing. It’s a reminder that, with art, there's always room for seeing things differently.