Athos Burez, visual artist

︎ CLOSE

EXPO
28.08.2021 
LANGE KIEVITSTRAAT 102, 2018 ANTWERPEN

‘The Amalgamation of Athos Burez x Viktor Leestmans’
Saterday 28 of august, from 12h

Athos Burez (1987) is a visual artist and photographer based in Antwerp, Belgium. The influence of painting is never far away in Athos' work. Even before the picture has been taken, he builds the image accurately and consciously with attention to framing, lighting and the composition of his installations. That is, after all, where he succeeds in creating his typical, surreal yet tangible atmosphere. The new world which he has thus created, challenges the viewer's imagination, often with a touch of humor.

Viktor Leestmans (1989) is a naturalist and taxidermist based in Deurne, Belgium.His whole life revolves around animals, insects, nature, technology and every connection between these aspects. He started experimenting when he was seventeen. From setting up butterflies, beetles, scorpions and other small animals to preparing skeletons. “I found out through self-study which techniques worked and which didn't,” he says. He gets the most satisfaction from the more difficult preparations. “I just want to do those things that hardly anyone else does,” he points to a skeleton that was prepared according to the Beauchêne technique. This is a two-hundred-year-old technique in which insects, crabs or bones are mounted with spaces in between. “I'm one of the five people in the world who knows how to do that.

In a non-classical way he uses natural materials to reconstruct new animals. He creates new shapes and objects and gives them a soul and a story

Although they have worked together for commercial or artistic assignments in the past, this is the first full-fledged exhibition in which they join forces proportionally. The exhibition will consist of photography as well as sculptures and taxidermy, each time with a humorous or absurd intervention that encompasses both their worlds.

the Amalgamation