Locuslux, 2008

Opera Ontwerpers, NL

To celebrate the solo exhibition by Jaap de Vries at Locuslux, the gallery commissioned this retrospective. Included in this publication is a dialogue between Jaap de Vries and fellow artist Loek Grootjans.

80 pages in full color price € 22,00.

Also available at bookstore Passa Porta, Antoine Dansaertstraat, Brussels.

Contrasto, 2007
Foreword by Max Kozloff

The Ninth Floor is just like any other floor in a Manhattan building. But in this case it is the apartment where a group of addicts buy and sell drugs, sleep, argue, make love and fight. For almost three years Jessica Dimmock followed the stories of the ninth floor and of its residents. Many have photographed the tragedy of the world of drugs, but the strength of these images gives a new and extraordinary account, both intimate and raw. 

The 3 bedroom apartment was leased by Joe Smith, 68. In the 70's Joe had been a player in the downtown art scene. Joe subleased a room to a young hustler named Joey; soon Joey was joined by his brother Mike, Mike's girlfriend Jesse, and many others. When I met this group in the fall of 2004 Joe no longer had a bedroom in his apartment. He stayed on the couch in hopes of gaining rent. In exchange for use of his apartment, people contributed money at first, then just bags of heroin, several cigarettes, a teaspoon of methadone or a daily beer. Unable to inject himself, Joe grew dependent on these young residents to shoot him up. Mike and Jesse occupied the largest room in the front of the apartment, Dionn another, Joey the third. Charlie, then Natasha slept in a hidden closet behind a moveable bookcase. And in every corner, of every room, there were others, all of whom were users. The mood inside was muffled, slow, secretive and sick, becalmed by a septic hush. 

Hardcover 165 pages in full colour

price € 38,00

In 1998, Loek Grootjans set up the Foundation for the Benefit of the Aspiration and the Understanding of Context (Formerly Known as the Institute for Immediate Knowledge, Real Perception and Logic Features According to the Most Contemporary Monochrome Paintings). This took place in London, where the Foundation was registered at the Chamber of Commerce. 

Het werk van Loek Grootjans (Arnemuiden, 1955), die in 2005 in de projectzaal van De Pont exposeerde, kent vele verschijningsvormen: van performance tot muurschilderingen, tekeningen en publicaties. Grootjans ordent zijn werk sinds 1998 in een speciaal daarvoor opgerichte stichting, de Foundation For The Benefit Of The Aspiration And The Understanding Of Context, onderverdeeld in 'departementen', waarvan er inmiddels zo'n vijftig bestaan. Deze departementen zijn nu ondergebracht in een indrukwekkend en prachtig vormgegeven boek met teksten van Philippe Van Cauteren, Rick Vercauteren, Leo Delfgauw, Ulco Mes, Chris Dercon en Frank Maes. In samenwerking met Museum van Bommel van Dam te Venlo wordt het boek in De Pont gepresenteerd, waarbij Loek Grootjans in gesprek gaat met Lex ter Braak, directeur Fonds BKVB. 

This publication has been written in English, the Foundation's official language.
Hard cover, 304 pages in full colour.
price € 50,00