Leo Copers
° 1947
Born in Ghent (), lives in Ghent ().
Leo Copers has built up a varied oeuvre of sculptural work, installations and performances since the late sixties. The starting point is an everyday object, which he changes, isolates or expands so that it will become both poetic and dramatic, speaking of danger, destruction and mortality. Copers’s work is composed with a measure of both irony and strategicic thinking. The use objects are selected on the basis of the specific expectations they create in the viewer. But this expectation is immediately undermined by means of some minimal adjustment to the context. The materials chosen may well inspire caution, but at the same time they create an alienating and romantic image. The aestheticisation of violence is a recurring element in Copers’s oeuvre. He plays on the margins between material things, harsh reality and the disturbing power of an immoral dream world, using weapons as a metaphor, as his mental clenched fist. He uses things not normally available to the artist. It is, for instance, forbidden for ordinary citizens to carry a weapon. At first sight Copers’s work often appears highly accessible and attractive, even beautiful. But this is always followed by a moment of amazement. Things are never what they at first seem, or at least not entirely. There is a hint of real danger and mystery. In addition, there is always tension between the elements used. The artist is interested in such natural forces as water, light and fire, and strives to pitch them against each other.
Items
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GA - Tijdschrift van de G...
Koen Theys, Frank Theys, Leo Copers, Wilfried Huet, GA - Tijdschrift van de Galerij van de Akademie Van Waasmunster, Jrg.7, nr.2, maart 1988, 1988. Periodical, ink, paper, 57.7 x 41.7 cm, 2 p., ill., language : Dutch, publisher : Galerij van de Akademie Van Waasmunster.
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Onzichtbare kogel. Kogel ...
Leo Copers, Onzichtbare kogel. Kogel in kristal. Kogel in bergkristal [Invisible Bullet. Bullet in Crystal. Bullet in Mountain Crystal], 1980. Sculpture.
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Kunst & Leven: 80 KUNSTEN...
Francky Cane , Pierre Alechinsky, Jean Bilquin, Bram Bogart, Jan Burssens, Jacques Charlier, Willem Cole, Leo Copers, Franky DC, Raoul De Keyser, Paul Delvaux, Yves De Smet, Karel Dierickx, Lili Dujourie, James Ensor , Jean-Michel Folon, Jean-Jacques Gailliard, Octave Landuyt, Marc Maet, Marcel Maeyer, Frans Masereel, Danny Matthys, Jozef Mees, Luc Peire, Roger Raveel, Rita Reychler, Pjeroo Roobjee, Raoul Servais, Rik Slabbinck, Philippe Vandenberg, Ludwig Vandevelde, Philip Van Isacker, Paul Van Rafelghem, Dan Van Severen, Willy Van Sompel, Erik Verhal , Pierre Vlerick , Roger Wittevrongel , Maurice Wyckaert, Kunst & Leven: 80 KUNSTENAARS schenken een werk voor een POLIO-VRIJE WERELD, 1989. Invitation Card, print on paper, 29,7 x 21 cm.
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Gouden strop en stoel [Go...
Leo Copers, Gouden strop en stoel [Golden Noose and Chair], 1979. Sculpture, rope, velvet, gilding, 40 x 89 x 206 cm.
Events
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EXTRA MUROS: Visite
15 October 2011 - 25 November 2011.
To read more on what the public wants to share about this project, click [here] -
The Collection II and a C...
30 June 1990 - 04 November 1990.
'De Verzameling II' showed a selection of the M HKA collection. Artists: Ulay & Marina Abramovic, Guillaume Bijl, Jean Marie Bijtebier, -
The collection XXXII – Pe...
07 December 2012 - 21 April 2013.
2013 was the ‘year of the collection’. Two large exhibitions and an extensive book put the contents of the M HKA collection on the map and po -
Kunst & Leven: 80 KUNSTEN...
01 April 1989 - 08 April 1989.
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Ensembles
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ICC_Publications
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Collectie Vlaamse Gemeens...
The M HKA holds works on permanent loan that were acquired with the budget of the Vlaamse Commissie voor Beeldende Kunst (Flemish Visual Art
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M HKA_DEFAULT_PUBLICATIONS
Since the end of May 2002, the M HKA has strayed from the beaten track of museum catalogues. The M HKA does not consider a systematic thereof
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NUCLEUS
The M HKA’s contemporary art collection has grown thanks to a combination of acquisitions, donations and long-term loans from various public