![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Screen-Shot-2015-12-10-at-14.40.29.png\")
Nan Goldin (1953-), Bea as Rita Hayworth, 1973, 2\/18, 40,6 x 50,8 cm. Collection of Mus\u00e9e des Arts Contemporains au Grand-Hornu, property of Communaut\u00e9 fran\u00e7aise. Copyright of Philippe De Gobert and Nan Goldin<\/p>\n Nan Goldin (1953-), Bea as Rita Hayworth, 1973, 2\/18, 40,6 x 50,8 cm. Collection of Mus\u00e9e des Arts Contemporains au Grand-Hornu, property of Communaut\u00e9 fran\u00e7aise. Copyright of Philippe De Gobert and Nan Goldin<\/p>\n
In September 1871, the French Symbolist poet Paul-Marie Verlaine invited the rebellious young colleague Arthur Rimbaud into his Paris family home. This would be the start of a tumultuous and passionate relationship between the two writers, which lead to Verlaine leaving his wife and son to embark on a wild journey with his new lover. Years later in Brussels, under the influence of absinthe, Verlaine fired two shots at Rimbaud who survived and refused to press charges. Despite this, Verlaine ended up being sentenced to two years in prison in the Belgian town of Mons, for attempted murder as well as for his \u201cimmoral\u201d behaviour. Known for being libertines, not only did they challenge social conventions but inverted the traditions of poetry. They went on to influence generations of writers and artists including the Beat Generation authors and Patty Smith. \u201cParade Sauvage\u201d is an exhibition in Mons that pays tribute to Rimbaud while focusing on 1960s counterculture. It features artists from both sides of the Atlantic who, just as the poet, defied their era\u2019s middle-class conformism. Taking place at Beaux-Art Mons, which also houses a show on Verlaine, \u201cParade Sauvage\u201d is not anchored in one major work or artist and instead offers a comprehensive overview of the period.<\/p>\n
![\"1_002_Enrico](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1_002_Enrico-Baj.jpg\")
Enrico Baj, Parade militaire au bois de Boulogne, 1963, 200 x 250 cm. Collection MAMCO, Gen\u00e8ve. Copyright Ilmari Kalkkinen, Mamco and SABAM Belgium 2015<\/p>\n
Spanning the period between the late 1940s and the late 1970s, curator Denis Gielen presents the exhibition through the perspectives that shaped this era – transvestism, ritualism, environmentalism and anarchism. Given the topic, well-known American names are present. However, Gielen has selected a large number of lesser-known European luminaries to highlight the far-reaching nature of the counterculture phenomenon. \u201cThe purpose is to show how that this cultural revolution also happened in Europe,\u201d says Caroline Dumoulin, the museum\u2019s coordinator of exhibitions.<\/p>\n
![\"2_Asger-Jorn-\u00a9-SABAM-Belgium-2015\"](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/2_Asger-Jorn-\u00a9-SABAM-Belgium-2015.jpg\")
Asger Jorn, L’infinie suffisance ou Le victime joyeux, 1965, huile sur toile, 116 x 89 cm. Collection Fondation Roi Baudouin, Fonds Thomas Neirynck, en d\u00e9p\u00f4t au BAM, Mons \/ \u00a9 SABAM Belgium 2015<\/p>\n
\u201cParade Sauvage\u201d starts with a selection of works by European artists heavily influenced by the post-war painters who collectively attempted to break free from the constraints and rules of academic art. The work that lends its title to the show appears in the form of a Fernand L\u00e9ger painting – \u201cJ’ai seul la clef de cette parade sauvage\u201d \u2013 a clear reference to one of Rimbaud\u2019s poems, albeit the only one offering a direct connection to the author. Alongside, Italian artist Enrico Baj provides a fitting example of that time\u2019s disregard for traditional painting. In \u201cParade Militaire au Bois de Boulogne\u201d Baj gave the canvas a battle-field treatment by patching it up with fabrics and other objects while mocking the military in all its preposterousness and inanity by depicting soldiers as marching creatures. Other artists presented in this room include painter Asger Jorn, who was part of the COBRA movement and remained an influential figure from the 50s onwards.<\/p>\n
![\"3_009_Jack](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/3_009_Jack-Smith.jpg\")
Jack Smith, Untitled, c. 1958-1962\/2011, analog C-print hand printed from original color negative on Fuji Crystal Archive paper, 35,6 x 27,9 cm. Courtesy Jack Smith Archive & Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels. \u00a9 Courtesy Jack Smith Archive & Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels<\/p>\n
The themes of transvestism and ritualism are presented side by side, and despite the works not being the most graphic they are nonetheless strong when put into context. The photography works of Americans artists Jack Smith, Andy Warhol and Nan Goldin feature here, mostly portraying the LGTB community in the late 60s, before homosexuality was decriminalised in the US. The section reserved to ritualism, features photographs of the Viennese Actionists\u2019 bloody Aktionen<\/em>. Taking place in 1960s Vienna, these violent and at times illegal art performances aimed at galvanising the repressive Austrian society into facing their Nazi traumas. But the squeamish should not fear, as the images on show have a more poetic feel.<\/p>\n Land Art and Arte Povera are the main focus within the environment section. These two movements played an important role in nonconformism for their links to nature at a time of increasing consumerism in the late 60s and 70s. For instance in Giuseppe Penone\u2019s sculpture \u201cPatate\u201d, the Italian artist worked with a food as modest as potatoes, together with other materials in the shape of ears or noses. By mixing the shapes of our senses with perishable goods the artist not only connected physically with the organic but also raised the middle finger to tired notions of \u201cfine art\u201d.<\/p>\n With a yet sharper political attitude, the artists, that illustrate the anarchism aspect, often used collage and slogans to subvert the iconography of capitalism. In the wake of the brutality of the Vietnam War, not even European artists could be indifferent to it. And Parisian artist Err\u00f3 epitomised that with the collage \u201cMilitary Life, Vietnam\u201d where he portrayed troops as drunken apes. However, the question of whether such art is less ballsy when done on European soil remains unanswered. What would have Verlaine\u2019s reaction been to these artists? After all, the poet paid the price for his “rebellion” with incarceration, during which he wrote some of his best work. The thought lingers in the air.<\/p>\n Text von Will Furtado<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cParade Sauvage\u201d and \u201cVerlaine, Cell 252\u201d are at BAM<\/a> in Mons, Belgium, until 24 January 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n Mehr: Greg Gorman: as a Photographer You have to Boost Celebs\u2019 Egos a Little<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Patate_1977_cod332](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/7_004_Patate-Penone.jpg\")
Giuseppe Penone, Patate, 1977, bronze, potatoes, various dimensions. Collection of mus\u00e9e d\u00e9partemental d’art contemporain de Rochechouart. Copyright of Archivio Penone and SABAM Belgium 2015<\/p>\n![\"8_012_ERRO](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/8_012_ERRO-Military-Life-Vietnam2.jpg\")
ERRO, Military Life, Vietnam, 1974, Collage of offset printed images formerly cutted, 37 x 26,7 cm. Collection MAC\/VAL, mus\u00e9e d\u2019art contemporain du Val-deMarne, inv. 1997-710. Copyright of Claude Gaspari and SABAM, Belgium, 2015<\/p>\n