After studying art in Charleroi, Namur and Brussels, Johan Muyle settled down in Liège in 1980. He created performances, public
actions, objects and installations in a ‘news item’ mode. As of 1985, his
production concentrated on what he calls ‘assemblage sculptures’, made from
collected objects. They are essentially composed of statuettes, especially
religious, which are found on flea markets. The objects found are loaded with a
past, a history, a context to which are added the meanings of the other
elements assembled in the same sculpture.
The ensemble of works made up of contradictory
elements tackles the complementarity of differences, be they sociological,
philosophical, religious or cultural, and includes both an ethical and a poetic
dimension around two notions: the World and the Other.
In the early 90s, the sculptures became animated while leaving their
mechanical process visible. As of 1993, Johan Muyle started to make extensive
trips to Africa and India. First in Kinshasa, where he made pieces with local
artists and craftsmen, and then to Madras, where between 1995 and 2004, he
collaborated with poster artists[1]. These created monumental portraits of the
artist, which were placed in large devices animated by an electromechanical
process. These collaborations reinforced the artist's approach, which advocates
cross-breeding as an identity value. The artist's approach tries to highlight
issues, not judgments. They are conveyed by his singular sculptures whose
poetry and style resist all the clichés of contemporary art. In addition to his
artistic activity, Johan Muyle taught contemporary practices at the Ecole des
Beaux-Arts in Valenciennes (FR) from 1994 to 2006. Since 2006, he has been
director of the Atelier de Sculpture at ENSAV-La Cambre (Brussels).
For
example, the work, Non si puo
ridere della felicità (One cannot laugh at happiness) emanates from his ‘Indian’ period.
The artist used his portrait in order to claim responsibility for the message
of the work. It questions the relationship to the world of each individual. Is
it better to see nothing, to hear nothing, and to say nothing? Should we
passively rely on the fortune-tellers evoked by the device or be active with
regard to one’s destiny? The title transforms the famous saying "We cannot
laugh at other people’s misfortune" but can we then laugh at their
happiness? The work ultimately questions what constitutes happiness in a
society that multiplies the needs, conditions the desires and defines the
fulfillment by having more than by being. Q(c)hi mangerà, vivrà is part of the same period. Of monumental size, the room invites
spectators to put their head in the mouth of the portrayal of the artist. The
work starts moving. The eyes of the artist open, the laurels, referring to the
myth of Daphne, are activated to the rhythm of the Italian revolutionary
song Bella Ciao. This time the title distorts the extract
from the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St. John "I am the living
bread that came down from heaven: if any man eats of this bread, he shall live
forever."
[1] Reference: MARCELIS, Bernard, Indian Studio 1995-2013. Johan Muyle, Bruxelles, Fonds Mercator, 2013.
