From Saturday 3 to Sunday 25 April 2021 TEN Gallery, Knokke
The exhibition displays a selection of photographs by Belgian photographer Benoît Feron taken during the Burning Man Festival in Nevada (USA) and AfrikaBurn in the Karoo Desert, north of Cape Town (South Africa). The photos will be exhibited at the TEN Gallery in Knokke from 3 to 25 April.
An insatiable traveller, Benoît Feron shares his passion for the beauty of the planet and its inhabitants through his photographs. For several years now, he has been travelling all over the planet, from Antarctica to Papua New Guinea, encountering examples of ethnic diversity with all their eccentricities. After these long months of confinement, it is time to discover his photos, which reflect a burning desire for freedom and the craziest extravagances in desert and surrealist scenery.`
The TEN Gallery is a place where recognised artists exhibit, but its mission is also to give emerging artists a chance to exhibit and make a name for themselves. Stéphane Deckers, the curator, is delighted: “We are very proud and happy to welcome Benoît Feron on the occasion of this exceptional exhibition for which he honours us with the première of his work.”
Work that highlights human diversity
Benoît Feron’s work on Burning Man and AfrikaBurn is in line with his work on ‘ethnicity’ and human diversity, which has also led him to other expressive human gatherings, such as the Goroka Festival in Papua New Guinea, where 20,000 Papuans from all over the country gather every year, the Holi Festival (festival of colours in India) or the Khumb Mêla, the largest pilgrimage in the world, which attracts more than 100 million Hindus to India every six years. A key feature of the events is their eccentricity and colours, a common thread in Benoît Feron’s recent work.
Benoît Feron explains: “These festivals remain out of the ordinary and represent a unique opportunity to photograph unusual, sometimes crazy, ‘freewheeling’, happy and always smiling people who don’t take themselves seriously, while being in total disconnection from the real world.”
All photos were taken with consent and in accordance with the principles defined by Burning Man.
About Benoît Feron
Benoît Feron is a Belgian photographer, a world traveller with a passion for the beauty of the Earth and its people.
His first photographic explorations took place in East Africa in the Rift Valley, a region that seduced him as much by its striking lights and infinite nature as by the great diversity and infinite beauty of its peoples.
His work is quite eclectic. That is clear from his favourite themes: ‘Ethnicity’, highlighting the diversity of peoples and their eccentricities, skin as a canvas for artistic expression and the elements of the Earth displayed in an abstract way.
With each journey, each encounter, his artistic approach is fuelled by a search for the aestheticism that he has a gift of finding everywhere.
About the TEN Gallery
Stéphane Deckers opened the TEN Gallery five years ago. More than a hundred artists have had the opportunity to exhibit their work during this period.
The discovery of new artists is the leitmotiv of his gallery. They come from very different backgrounds. The mediums of the works exhibited range from photography to painting, sculpture and mixed media. This eclectic choice is a deliberate one in order to surprise visitors at each visit. Having grown up in Antwerp and lived in a cosmopolitan environment, sharing is a value that sets him apart.
The location of the sea is also a deliberate move, to give visitors the opportunity to come and admire the works with family and friends.
The TEN Gallery welcomes art lovers every weekend and during school holidays.
About the Burning man & AfrikaBurn Festivals
Founded in 1991, the Burning Man festival is a world famous Californian counter- culture event that brings together 80,000 people from all over the world every year.
Founded in 2007, AfrikaBurn is a smaller festival that brings together around 11,000 people and remains more faithful to the original spirit of Burning Man, which has become a mega event over time.
Both festivals adhere to the same principles, based on an economy of giving and exchanging (there is nothing to buy or sell). Participants must bring everything they need to survive, but also give gifts to the burners’ community, in the form of goods or services, and leave leaving nothing behind, including waste bags (based on the ‘Leave No Trace’ principle). For a week, people have total freedom as long as they respect others. Everyone is free to express their eccentricity or their feelings, without aggression, and to walk around in the craziest costumes, around a gigantic ‘playa’, where members of theme camps have spent weeks building incredible artistic installations. Some of these installations, made of wood, will be burned over the course of the last two days in an impressive grand ceremony.
Photos printed with the ChromaLux technique
The ChromaLuxe® sublimation process consists of the hot infusion of colour pigments under high pressure onto an aluminium plate covered with numerous layers of varnish. ChromaLuxe® is a magical luminescence with an almost three- dimensional effect with extremely deep blacks. The high resistance to UV, scratches and moisture make it an exclusive medium.
COLORFIELDS – Fine Art Printing – was the pioneer to offer this type of photographic prints in Belgium and the only lab to use a 9-ink printer offering a unique range of colours.
Exhibition from 3 April to 25 April
Open every Saturday & Sunday from 2pm until 6pm and during Easter Holidays
Ten Gallery – Zandstraat 7 – 8300 Knokke-Heist www.tengallery.be
