“Sumptuous Allegories of Nothingness” at Herbert Foundation, Ghent

Herbert Foundation, in collaboration with art historian Nikolaas Verstraeten, presents a double exhibition focused on the work of Rodney Graham and Jan Vercruysse. Both artists occupy a central place in the collection and archives of Annick and Anton Herbert, who have closely followed their work since the 1980s.

The exhibitions draw on the literary and bibliophile interests of Graham and Vercruysse, specifically the “book works” and “book adaptations” they created during the 1980s and 1990s. These works inhabit the liminal space between artwork and book, where visual arts and literature meet. Despite the parallel between their reading habits, a mutual publisher and traces of exchange, Graham and Vercruysse approached this tension in distinctive ways. Their idiosyncratic practices are therefore presented in individual exhibitions that can be read together.

Through their bibliophile artworks, the artists each extend a different invitation to reflect on the dilemma of ‘reading’ versus ‘showing’. Their work requires a place that straddles both a (public) exhibition space and a (private) study room, as well as a reader/viewer willing to devote it time and attention.

“Sumptuous Allegories of Nothingness” brings together the artworks by Rodney Graham (1949–2022) that take the book as their starting point (and often end up again as books).

With a bibliophile sensitivity to the latitude offered by “world literature” from the late 18th century onward, Graham begins to experiment with seemingly minimal but actually extreme adaptations of renowned books during the 1980s. What begins as the artist’s soft spot for prolonging books with the help of literary loops eventually gives way to a parasitic authorship in the form of pseudo reprints—works made his own by claiming the writing. In books whose design he again models after other books, Graham not only takes on famous writers; he truly inscribes himself in their literature, in their voice and style.

Anton and Annick Herbert discover Graham’s work during the 1980s through Yves Gevaert’s publishing house. The Brussels-based publisher will “publish” works by Graham that transcended the book object; Graham’s book adaptations after all do not limit themselves to the book volume.

“Sumptuous Allegories of Nothingness” offers an opportunity to discover Rodney Graham’s literary art practice during the 1980s and 1990s through the varied adaptations and presentations of one and the same source or bibliophile anecdote, whether it concerns Lewis Carroll, Ian Fleming or Richard Wagner.

at Herbert Foundation, Ghent
until July 27, 2025