Delvaux, the oldest fashion house working with leather in the world, has teamed up with Belgian artist Hans Op de Beeck. Together, they created the installation “Hold the Time, Share the Time, Calmly Cheer Up!” at Delvaux Arsenal in Brussels. Jean-Marc Loubier, CEO of Delvaux, described the project as a place and an encounter that evoke sensitivity and escape, an increasingly rare space for calm in a fast-paced world.
A garden, a pond, and a planetarium
A garden surrounded by bamboo sets the scene, along with a lily pond where Delvaux bags are displayed among the greenery. The monochromatic palette deliberately draws attention away from distractions. Two figures flank the pond, Brian and Zhai-Liza, a meditative boy and a melancholic angel, representing a duality of two states. At the centre stands a mechanical planetarium, engraved with words about “letting go” and “our humble place in the universe.”
The piece most deserving of attention is Le Brillant, a “sculptural soul” featuring two birds nestled together on one of the house’s iconic bags, perhaps the best summary of the whole installation in a single fragment.
Crossover: why everything is grey in Op de Beeck’s work
A uniform matte grey is his signature, applied to sculptures and entire installations alike, a layer of pigment resembling dust or velvet. It creates a sense of frozen time, as if the scene had turned to stone, while stripping away surface detail in favour of pure emotion. He himself compares it to a “three-dimensional drawing” in space.
Crossover: the piece that made art fair history
Op de Beeck (b. 1969, Belgium) is represented by Galleria Continua, Templon, and Almine Rech. The best-known moment of his career remains The Collector’s House, a complete neoclassical room belonging to a fictional art collector, which he unveiled in 2016 in the prestigious Art Basel Unlimited section. Viewers lined up for hours, captivated by the silence it created amid the noise of the fair.
Where and how
Delvaux Arsenal, Brussels.
