Jan Van Eijgen
Jan Van Eijgen (°1995) lives and studies in Leuven.
Artistic practice in BioArt and mixed media, resident in ophthalmology, doctoral researcher in neurosciences
Fungal artworks that are kept alive by human impact, and if not, take their own course. Results of an endless exchange between humans and other organisms, a continuous mutual manipulation. Growing and dying, the impermanence of life. It could be part of a contemporary vanitas. Transforming and regenerating, bringing continuous change.
Jan Van Eijgen brings together living matter and mixed media into works of art that translate into the beauty of the transient. He makes us reflect on the fragility of life and the fact that everything takes place next to each other. Jan uses the term 'BioArt'. He already exhibited in the Verbeke foundation, the Leuven expo Knalfestival and nested fungi under in various ceramic objects. Van Eijgen tried to catch time by fixating fungal creatures in epoxy resin and he visualized the life of Coca-Cola cans. Not only as an artist, but also as a researcher, he prompts reflection on life and its continuation through time.
Together with Professor Patrick Van Dijck at the lab of Molecular Biotechnology of Plants and Micro-organisms (KU Leuven), he explores how to genetically transform fungal species to express alternative colors. That’s how Van Eijgen makes us reflect on the activities and manipulations of humanity, environmental details that we frequently encounter, but which we do not consider. An everyday object such as a rag is used by the artist to convey a simultaneous relationship of care and disgust towards the object and its context.
He is part of a trajectory in Cas-Co, Studio Annext, a collective based in the city of Leuven. Jan’s work is about interplay and interaction, art in evolution in context changing spaces. Jan works as a doctoral researcher in the Department of Neurosciences at KU Leuven where he conducts research on the eye disease glaucoma. His background in medicine and biomedical research goes hand in hand with his creations.
Teaser
Adoration of the Universe: the Leuven Altarpiece.
An altarpiece is integrated into an industrial space and invites you, not to dwell on our relationship with the strictly vertical, the supernatural, but to appreciate our relationship to the natural, to each other. It does not provide answers, but rather raises more questions about the role and place we occupy alongside so many other things. During the exhibition, certain panels will be overgrown by fungal colonies in the greenhouse, which will then be added to the ensemble. Towards the finissage, the central altarpiece will be covered in genetically transformed fungus, as showcase for the ultimate mutual manipulation.
ELAPSE
Through the group exhibition Elapse, Curating the Young facilitates a dialogue between four artists and the remarkable context of the historic silos at Vaartkom in the city of Leuven. The exploratory practice of these artists examines the temporality of their work and the context in which it is presented. What if we ceased to fear impermanence and instead embraced it?
Impermanence may be intangible, but it can simultaneously offer a sense of direction and support. Elapse reflects this sense of temporality in the practices of the participating artists and refers to transience in our social contexts. The silos of the city's last industrial mill provide a space for Maarten De Laet (°1996), Amber Roucourt (°1998), Andrei Haesen (°1997) and Jan Van Eijgen (°1995) to reflect on the ongoing evolution and impermanence of our surroundings.
Curated by Curating The Young, in close collaboration with Cas-co / Studio Annext