Joël Riff’s first exhibition as curator at La Verrière, “Chryséléphantine” is a celebration of composite sculpture, a rich, profuse genre noted for its sumptuous combinations of raw materials and its encyclopaedic repertory of motifs. The first solo exhibition in Belgium by French artist Marion Verboom, “Chryséléphantine” is conceived as a contextualisation of her work, in association with seven guest personalities. The show includes works on loan and new pieces inspired by Verboom’s stay in Brussels. The broad range of media includes Cubist statuary, silver gelatin photographic prints, oil paintings on canvas, wheel-thrown ceramics, furniture and text, and Marion Verboom’s own modelled and mould-cast pieces. The exhibition launches a new curatorial programme at La Verrière, with a new-look publication conceived as an extension of the exhibition space and an artwork in its own right.

“Chryselephantine” is a term employed by Marion Verboom in an interview in the pages of her newly-published monograph1. She adds: “I came across [it] on an explanatory panel in Delphi. I was struck by the dichotomy between the image of a small, delicate flower – the chrysanthemum – and a thick-skinned pachyderm, all in one word.”

Marion Verboom’s new solo exhibition also marks a decade of collaboration with curator Joël Riff, beginning in 2012 with the group show “Outre-forêt #4” at the independent art space 6b in Saint-Denis (north of Paris), followed by “Duetto” in 2020, and “Faire essaim” in 2021 at Moly-Sabata (Sablons, France). Joël Riff penned a portrait of Verboom in his nomination of her for the Prix Aware in 2019. He has written ten pieces about new works by the artist in his series Curiosité and the Revue de la céramique et du verre, and conducted the interview published in her new monograph (Éditions Dilecta in 2022). “Chryséléphantine” furthers his collaboration with Amélie Lucas-Gary and Maude Maris, and initiates conversations with Richard Deacon, Tjok Dessauvage, touche-touche and Chloé Vernerey.

La Verrière
Boulevard de Waterloo 50
1000 Brussels (Belgium)
Exhibition from February 9 to April 22, 2023
Free admission from Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.