Le Soir · 1994-02-05 · Martine Duprez (text)

The Art-Pool gallery celebrated its second birth on the canal - an embassy of Brussels art along the water

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Article by Martine Duprez published on 5 February 1994. Art-Pool, the artists' cooperative set up by Mon De Rijck and his partner Françoise Laurent at 80 rue Gaucheret in Schaerbeek (monthly-contribution artwork purchase scheme), celebrates its "second birth": after more than a year of slowing down to prepare its reconversion, the gallery goes afloat. Mon De Rijck, "gripped by the call of the open sea", found a new barge and converted it into an art gallery and home - Mon, Françoise and Jonas, their 15-month-old toddler, have taken up residence there. The floating gallery is moored at Quai des Péniches, a stone's throw from Place Sainctelette, level with the "Empire" nightclub. For the inauguration, the sculptor shows a retrospective of his last ten years (tin, bronze and marble sculptures, sketches of female bodies, "sensually beautiful") alongside watercolours by Irène Sturbelle, with whom he had exhibited exactly 14 years earlier on his first barge. Two further exhibitions are planned for April and May. Mon De Rijck then plans to move the barge to the Bryck, beside the Van Praet bridge - a better-known spot more likely to draw visitors - before taking to Belgium's canals with a travelling exhibition: "a dress rehearsal before the big plunge: a cultural and economic embassy across Europe (Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Prague)". He announces reviving the Grand A idea: the barge would become the floating ambassador of the Brussels Region, with support from public authorities and private firms, shows devoted to Brussels artists and presentations of dynamic Brussels companies eager to export. "Cast off and away she goes!" Practical details: Art-Pool, aboard the M/S "Le Grand A", Quai des Péniches, tel. 075-23.25.18, until 28 February, open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 7 p.m.