Johan De Wilde
Requiem

On January 26 and 27, artist Johan De Wilde presented his new artist publication Requiem at Woning Van Wassenhove.

The edition is a unique crystallization of the artwork of the same name, consisting of a series of 51 drawings in De Wilde’s characteristic formats, A4 and A2. Two plants, bamboo (the large, invasive, and barely controllable plant) and yew (the refined, poisonous, mysterious plant used in cancer treatment), are juxtaposed side by side.

The artwork and the book serve as a heartfelt, artistic tribute to Tanguy Eeckhout, the former curator of Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, a passionate art historian, and a lover of the Belgian interbellum period. However, for many artists, he was primarily a loyal and equally passionate ‘compagnon de route’. The work Requiem was the artist’s personal response to Tanguy’s incurable illness.