Foam Magazine #21 / MERGE / David Claerbout

David Claerbout was born in 1969 in Kortrijk, Belgium. As a young man he studied painting at Sint-Lucas Visual Arts in Gent. He then studied for two years at the University College for Sciences and Arts in Antwerp, where he graduated cum laude in 1995. Claerbout switched to video art, with his work Cat and Bird in Peace. In this simple video of a cat and a canary sitting motionless beside each other in a small space, the interests which still dominate his work resonate. Worldwide exhibitions of his work ensure that Claerbout can look forward to increasing international appreciation in the coming years. His work has been shown at Lenbachhaus, Munich, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MIT LIST Visual Arts Center, Cambridge MA, United States and De Pont Tilburg. David Claerbout lives and works in Antwerp.

Lieze Eneman studied art history at the Universities of Ghent and Amsterdam. She is currently working as a freelance art writer and researcher in Belgium and the Netherlands. She graduated on the subject of time and temporality in the work of David Claerbout.

All images Œ David Claerbout, courtesy Hauser & Wirth, Zürich, London and Yvon Lambert, Paris New York.