ON JULY 18 THE BEEKMAN FOUNDATION LAUNCHES A GLOBAL WARNING.
The first event of the brand new contemporary arts centre at the Beekman Foundation, Beauvoorde, near the city of Veurne, Belgium, will be a one man show of its founder, the Belgian-American artist Jan Beekman. Next to a brand new silk screen print and preliminary studies and versions of the world famous portrait which Beekman painted of Nelson Mandela, and which hangs in the UN-headquarters in New York, ‚Global Warning‘ will also reveal for the first time ever some works of the artist’s latest series.
July 18, the day on which the exhibition and arts centre open, will also celebrate the centenary of Mandela’s birth, and the exhibition will be one of the highlights of the program that commemorates this. A first copy of the silk screen print of ‚Portrayal of Nelson Mandela‘ will be officially handed over to the South-African ambassador at the opening, and part of the sales of the print will go to the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The Beekman Foundation, which has also its seat in the United States, does not only manage Beekman’s gigantic body of work, but also offers a platform to initiatives, artists, and scientists, who work on issues that are closely related to the artistic, social, and ecological engagement that underlies his oeuvre.
The new contemporary arts centre
houses in the former ateliers of Beekman, near Veurne. Apart from a gallery and a library, the centre also offers room for research, lectures, debates, film screenings, artists in residence, workshops etc. Beekman’s one man show – the first in his country of birth after more than 15 years, and therefore already a unique event – runs until December 5, when the fifth anniversary of Mandela’s death will be commemorated.
Several other events will be organized in the course of the exhibition. The artist, who moved to the United States in the eighties, and has been living in Connecticut for the last few decades, will be present at the opening.
