- Venue
- Hayward Gallery
- Location
- London
Erik Van Lieshout is a lovable rebel who set up a shop with a difference in a mall based in a working class district of Rotterdam. Concerned with the commercial presence in daily life, the spaces we occupy in modern society and the inescapable gaze of surveillance cameras he set about making a film about the shopping mall called Zuidplein and the people who shop and work there. The previous themes in his work have ranged from hip-hop culture to his own family. His films offer a humorous insight into his views on popular culture and a glimpse into his mind. After studying painting at Academie voor Kunst en Vormgeving, St. Joost, Holland, he began working as a mixed media artist using sculpture, painting and video installations. This is his first solo show in Britain.
Not another faceless artist Van Lieshout used the shop as a space where he could emerge himself into the community, not selling items but giving them away. Van Lieshout is filled with enthusiasm despite coming up against resistance from the mall security and other shop owners. The fear of the unknown is a theme in this film. The people of Zuidplein, and most people nowadays feel totally comfortable being filmed from all angles as long as it is for their safety but what about for art? His filming is just as intrusive as CCTV but the people of Zuidplein don’t realise. He wants us to think about how other people control our lives; telling us what to buy and how to live. He says that his art is about ‘the socio-political powerlessness of people and of art.’
Van Leishout’s amusing and playful approach makes the subjects of his art pass you by as you watch him cavort around the mall asking questions and being harassed and removed by the security guards. It is clever of him to take this line with his filming; people do not like to feel as if someone else’s political or religious view is being forced upon them and Van Lieshout does a good job of letting the viewer smile at his behaviour but ultimately think about the world we live in. One of the reasons the film is successful is because of the rebelliousness of the artist. I feel we all have a lot to learn from people like Van Lieshout; as he smiles in the face of adversity and isn’t afraid to ask questions. It would seem that his philosophy in life is that it is easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for approval.
