Multiples & Editions

The whole series of “Multiples & Editions” realized by Guillaume Bijl corresponds to his installations of a certain period: posters, small compositions, some “Sorry’s”, tableaux vivants or projects. Often, these multiples were created as an annex of temporary installations, or with the motivation to help non-profit organizations, or to cover the costs of installations in galleries. After 40 years of practice, the Antwerp Academy was able to trace back about 80 pieces. In February 2021 the Antwerp Academy is exhibiting these multiples & editions and they are being published in a comprehensive book by publishing house Walther & Franz König. The texts of David Vermeiren and Johan Pas put these multiples & editions in context and reflect about all aspects of Guillaume Bijl’s oeuvre.

The Belgian artist Guillaume Bijl (°1946) surprised the international art world of the early 1980s with his transformation installations. Galleries, art spaces and museum were radically transformed into ordinary looking commercial or entertainment venues like carpet stores, supermarkets or TV-Quiz decors. Apart from these, Bijl presents slices of dead pan reality as ‘situation-installations’ and ‘compositions trouvées’. Lesser known, but widely distributed are the multiples Bijl created in the context of an installation or an exhibition. These objects seem extremely banal or kitschy but acquire a different meaning when seen as part of Bijl’s artistic strategy of staging and appropriation. Together with the posters and books Bijl designed, all of Bijl’s multiples are collected for the first time in this catalogue raisonné. The book was accompanied by an exhibition in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp.