EXHIBITIONS

NK Gallery is pleased to present BLACK GOLD, the solo exhibition of Kool Koor.

 

Entitled ‘Black Gold’ the exhibition arouses associations with the commodities, on the base of which our civilization, societies, their economies, politics and technologies were built. Crude oil, petroleum, coffee, coal, black pepper - have been very controversial subjects in the history of the planet. Through centuries the access to them was and – in case of petroleum - still is a main factor in conflicts and is considered a major strategic asset. Whether conscious or unconscious, consumption of ‘black gold’ in a variety of its forms or choices enhanced by it permeate the daily life. It is natural that the awareness of something that is habitual decreases. With the series of works presented at the exhibition, Kool Koor arouses the certain questions aligned to the omnipresence of Black Gold.

 

Kool Koor’s works are featured by contrasting areas of extension and compression within the canvas.

Against almost monochromatic backdrop plane there appear extensively detailed ‘hieroglyphs’ consisting of splines, circles, angles, lines, wheels, arches. Taken individually, they resemble urban and architectural elements - highways and crossroads, bridges, peaks of skyscrapers and facades of buildings – referring to graffiti and at the same time to civilizations built on ‘black gold’ - leaning as seaweed under the current, in constant vibrance, both organic and mechanic. Seen from a distance, the canvases appear to be windows to the other dimension: the background of interlaid opaque and metallic blacks is perceived as an infinite universal space, in which the interconnected and intertwined entities are drifting. The shimmering golden glow of ink causes a variety of effects, depending on the position of the viewer. The colour becomes more intense while looking closely and dissolves in a mist, when observed from a distance.

 

Charles Hargrove (Kool Koor ) (°1963), a Brussels based artist from New York, started his career as a graffiti-artist in the Bronx, New York together with Basquiat and Keith Haring. Since 1979 he works and produces outside the graffiti-art scene as well. Kool Koor had numerous solo and group exhibition in Belgium, France, Luxemburg, Poland, Germany, Africa and the USA. His works are included in different private and museum collections like The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York (USA), Musee des Beaux-Arts in Mons (BE), The Groninger Museum in Groningen (NL), Galleria Communale d’Arte Moderna in Bologna (IT) and Herbert and Leonore Schorr Collection (USA). Kool Koor is currently working on a permanent mural of 300 m2 in Gare Du Nord, Paris.