Hugo Heyrman
Related: Belgian contemporary art
Profile
Belgian painter, multimedia artist and a theorist of new media. Born in Antwerp (1942), where he lives and works. From his earliest work, Dr. Hugo explored the human condition and the art-mind connection. His multimedia art practice includes net art, film, video, sculpture, photography, painting and drawing. In his online project 'Museums of the Mind' Originally, Dr. Hugo opted for a musical education, but transferred to the visual arts. He graduated from the Royal Academy and became a laureate of the National Higher Institute for Fine Arts in Antwerp. In addition, he studied nuclear physics during one year at the State Higher Institute for Nuclear Energy in Mol. He received a doctoral degree, PhD in art sciences, from the Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife with a thesis on 'Art & Computers: an exploratory investigation on the digital transformation of art'. In 1995 he coined the terms 'tele-synaesthesia' and 'post-ego'. Since 1993 he is a working member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts, Brussels. Since 2000, representative of the Belgian Synaesthesia Association. He is currently professor at the Royal Academy for Fine Arts, Antwerp.
During the sixties, Dr. Hugo profiled himself as an avant-garde artist with 'happenings' film- and video experiments. In 1970-73 he made a 'Continental Video & Film Tour' with his 'Mobile Museum of Modern Media' through Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands. For his 'Street-life' paintings, he was elected laureate of the 'Jeune Peinture Belge' (1974) at the Palais des Beaux-arts, Brussels. In monumental series on 'Water', 'Light', 'Time', 'A Vision is Finer than a View' and 'New Models of Reality', Dr. Hugo paints the existentially tension between between ideas and images; an appeal to several senses at once — "I bring the visual and the conceptual, synesthetically closer together". For Dr. Hugo ideas are tools; his experimental approach to surface, texture and colour contributes to the possibilities of painting. With poetic intensity he continues the innovative adventure of the visual arts.
Online since 1995, Dr. Hugo became one of the pioneers in Net.art. He participated in 1988 at the 'First International Symposium on Electronic Art' (FISEA) in Utrecht. In the Fuzzy Dreamz series, a work in progress since 1996, he transforms his painting experiences into digital media and vice versa. He took part in various Net.art projects, including the online exhibitions, Digital Studies: Being In Cyberspace 'ALT-X-site' (1997) New York and 'Revelation' ISEA 2000, Paris. His works have been presented in major international exhibitions ranging from Antwerp, Brussels, Basel, Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona and Chicago to the Biennale of Venice.
"In our minds we have private museums, silent places for our memories, imagination and dreams." A virtual museum project: exploring the telematic future of art and mind. Sources on net art, net films, paintings, the senses and synesthesia.
2000
Doctor Hugo, The Fuzzy Logic of Icons, New Paintings, Mineta Move
Art Gallery, Art Brussels (31 march - 4 april). 1998
Doctor Hugo, Fuzzy Dreamz, New Paintings, Mineta Move Art Gallery,
Brussels. 1993
Models of Reality, St. Jorispand, Elzenveld ‘93, Antwerp. 1991
A Vision is Finer than a View III, Galerij De Zwarte Panter, Antwerp. 1990
Hugo Heyrman, De Brakke Grond, Vlaams Cultureel Centrum, Amsterdam. 1989
A Vision is Finer than a View II & Kringloop van het Straatleven,
Galerij De Zwarte Panter, Antwerp. 1987
Legends of the Sea, Galerie Het Roze Huis, Antwerp. 1986
A Vision is Finer than a View I, Mineta Move Art Gallery, Brussels. 1985
Face to Life, Galerij De Zwarte Panter, Antwerp. 1984
The Nature of Reality, Chicago International Art Expo, Navy Pier,
Chicago, USA. 1983
Impressions of Ireland, Mineta Move Art Gallery, Brussels. 1981
Kringloop van het Straatleven, Galerij De Zwarte Panter, Antwerp. 1980
Kringloop van het Water en het Licht, Mineta Move Art Gallery, Brussels
(Prijs van de Kritiek/ Belgische Vereniging van Kunstcritici). 1979
Kringloop van het Water, Galerij De Zwarte Panter, Antwerp. 1978
Kringloop van het Water, Mineta Move Art Gallery, Brussels (Prijs
van de Kritiek/ Belgische Vereniging van Kunstcritici). 1975
De Waarneming Waarnemen, Galerij De Zwarte Panter, Antwerp (Prijs
van de Kritiek/ Belgische Vereniging van Kunstcritici). 1972
Artworker Star 3, Multi-Art Gallery, Antwerp. 1971
Helder Rood, Vuil Groen, Verblindend Wit, (cancelled exhibition),
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp. 1966
De Première van de Hersenexpansie in Kleuren!, Stunt-Happening,
Hugo Heyrman - Panamarenko, Wide White Space Gallery, Antwerp. 1964
Kunststrukturen, Hugo Heyrman - Panamarenko, CAW, Comité
voor Artistieke Werking, Antwerp.
your Amazon recommendationsMuseums of the Mind
http://www.doctorhugo.org, Dr. Hugo's Museums of the Mind
Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerpen
http://academieantwerpen.ha.be/
Sixties Happenings
Doctor Hugo (Hugo Heyrman) & Panamarenko
Solo Exhibitions
2001 Doctor Hugo, Museums
of the Mind, Recent paintings, Mineta Move Art Gallery, Brussels (3
october - 24 november).
1991 A Vision is Finer than a View IV, 12th Modern Art Fair,
Galerij De Zwarte Panter, Paleis 11, Heizel, Brussels.
1986 De Kringloop van het Straatleven, Galerij De Zwarte Panter,
Antwerp.
1984 Hugo Heyrman, Retrospective, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone
Kunsten, Antwerp.
1983 Hugo Heyrman, Mineta Move Art Gallery, Internationale Kunstmesse,
Bazel 14 ‘83, Basel.
1981 Le Cycle de l’Leau, F.I.A.C. ‘81, Mineta Move
Art Gallery, Grand Palais, Paris.
1978 Hugo Heyrman, Galerie Fagel, Amsterdam.
1971 Artworker Star 1 en 2, Galerij Penta, Antwerp.
1964 Hugo Heyrman, Tekeningen, Galerij Nederlands Kamertoneel,
NKT, Antwerpen. 