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Vleeshal

Center for Contemporary Art

American Imperialism

Lili Dujourie


1972

In 1972, Lili Dujourie developed Amerikaans Imperialisme (American Imperialism), a work that can be executed in various ways on the basis of instructions from the artist. It always consists of two components: a wall painted in monochrome and one or more steel plates, sometimes painted, leaning against the wall or lying on the ground. The interplay between formal qualities and titles engages visitors on both an intellectual and a sensory level.

When you stand directly in front of Amerikaans Imperialisme, it can be experienced as a painting, but it changes into a sculpture when you move around it. Only then the core of the work becomes visible: the emptiness behind the steel plate. In addition to an aesthetic reading, the title encourages political interpretation. Looking at the formal qualities of Amerikaans Imperialisme, the work shows many similarities with Minimal Art, an American movement that is still dominant and almost exclusively comprised of male artists. The title breathes criticism, not only in this regard but also towards the American foreign policy at that time, especially the imperial undertakings in South-East Asia and South America.

Dujourie appropriates the visual language of what she criticizes, and with Amerikaans Imperialisme she encourages different ways of looking at an object of which some parts are invisible. She shows that invisibility doesn’t mean absence.

Persons

Lili Dujourie

Series

Vleeshal is a unique center for contemporary art, not only because of its atypical exhibition space and exciting programming, but also because it has a collection. In the 1990s, under the impetus of then director Lex ter Braak, an ambitious collection of contemporary visual art was begun. This collection was intended for a newly envisioned museum in Middelburg, designed by Aldo and Hannie van Eyck. In 1995 it became clear that, unfortunately, there was insufficient political support for this museum. The impetus of collection building had therefore lost its possible context and visibility and encumbered Vleeshal. The collection had become a storage cost and management issue.

In 2005, the collection was given on a long-term loan to M HKA in Antwerp. M HKA was chosen because of the close historical ties between Middelburg and Antwerp, the museum's collection profile, and the fact that M HKA's director, Bart De Baere, was a member of the committee that purchased artworks for the yet-to-be-built museum in Middelburg in the 1990s.

The collection consists of two parts. One part includes national and local art from the BKR arrangement (the Dutch abbreviation BKR stands for Beeldende Kunstenaars Regeling, an arrangement, which from 1949 to 1987 provided artists with a temporary income in exchange for works of art or other artistic quid pro quo). The other part consists of artworks by international contemporary artists (including Jimmie Durham, Nedko Solakov, Suchan Kinoshita, Cameron Jamie, Pipilotti Rist, and Job Koelewijn).

There has been no active acquisition policy for years. The collection is expanded here and there with sporadic purchases and donations from artists who are part of the Vleeshal program.