Frank JMA Castelyns walks the world as an artist looking for a philosophy. Significant events and symbols stimulate his senses and his empathy, resulting in images with sensitizing qualities and  beauty. The aesthetic layer always comes first, then the deeper layer of meaning which is supported by the ‘memory functions’ of the images. Memories have the tendency to fade away slowly, but a word, an image or an association can stir up these memories. Maybe Castelyns’ images are primarily ‘reminders’, symbols with a great sentimental value, which go beyond the automatic process of observation and understanding. Castelyns’ art originates from the sensitive intellect and stimulates on an intellectual level. In each image a mental plan unfolds which entails rich art and social historical stories, traditions, images or characters. The inherent landmarks stimulate the observer to recollect and discover stories, messages or meaning. Sometimes meaning can be exciting, sometimes even shocking or open, but it is always sensitive. Castelyns’ art travels between different worlds, marking common ground.

(Adriaan Gonnissen)

 

 

TEXTS

ARTICULATION 
Text artists’ book ARTICULATION by Adriaan Gonnissen
English - French - Dutch

 

Exhibition text ARTICULATION by Volkmar Mühleis - M HKA - Antwerp, 15.10.2015 - 26.10. 2016 
English - French - Dutch

 

TICKER THOUGHTS  -  On Frank JMA Castelyns' Ticker Tape by Volkmar Mühleis 2021

 

 

Solo exhibitions (selection)

2023 TOPOGRAPHY OF THE INVISIBLE, Gallery EL, Welle (B)
2022 Brass casting, Vitrine # 133, Library LUCA School of Arts, Brussels (B)
2020 Permanent drawing on skin for H.S. / Spiegel - Vitrine # 118, Mediatheek, ArTEZ University of the Arts, Zwolle (NL)
2017 90° above and/or 90° below the horizon, H8x12, Tielt-Winge 
2015 Articulation, INBOX, M HKA, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, (BE)
2011 North, East, South, SECONDroom, Antwerp (BE)
2011 Locomotor apparatus, Frans Masereel Centrum, Kasterlee (BE)
2009 The North, East and South, New York City, 5 locations (USA)
2008 Plexus II, Queeste, Arnhem (NL)
2008 Mortificatio (remember Rosa Luxemburg), City centre, Arnhem (NL), 2008
2008 Artaud vous adresse la parole, On 5 locations, city centre, Arnhem (NL), 2008/07/11
2006 Plexus, Queeste, Arnhem (NL)
2001 Enfin, il a été decidé d’adopter un symbole, S&S Gallery, Antwerp (BE)
2000 Introspection, Space Alfa, Cultural Centre, Hasselt (BE)
1999 Les conditions transparentes, FLA & CC Gallery, Genk (BE)
1998 Amor fati, Il Ventuno, Hasselt (BE)
1997 Décomposition, Central Library, La Louvière (BE)
1995 Metamorfose, SI & LA Gallery, Antwerp (BE)
1989 Passanten 79-89, Frans Masereel Centre, Kasterlee (BE)
1985 Frank JMA Castelyns, Electrum Gallery, Arnhem (NL)
1982 Frank JMA Castelyns, Siegfried De Buck Gallery, Ghent (BE)

 

 

Group exhibitions (selection)

 

2023 SEIN UND ZEIT, Gallery EL, Welle (B)
2023 Les Marcel  /  R. PATT, Le Botanique, Brussels (B)
2022 XX YEARS, Gallery EL, Welle (B)
2022 BOLERO an international art project on the move, Location in public space simultaneously in KYIV (Ukraine) and KASSEL (Germany) during DOCUMENTA 15
2022 Dimensions of Settlement, Neck of the Woods, Rotterdam Art Week (NL)
2021 METALLURGY SHOUTING BIRDS & HIEROGLYPHS, gallery EL, Welle (B)
2021 BOLERO, an internation art project on the move at the Centre André Malraux, the neighbourhood of the Grand Mare and in the rue des Bons Enfants in downtown Rouen (FR) - Curator Edith Doove
2021 Ticker Tape, NICC Brussels - Antwerp (BE)
2020 Le chinois aux pinces d'or, M HKA, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (BE)
2019 'aha', studio - project, Antwerpen (BE)

2018

LOLO'S ENTANGLEMENTS, DE WARANDE, Turnhout (BE)

2017 A Revolution A Day, C&H gallery, Amsterdam (NL)
2017 BOLERO an international art project on the move, Eos Gallery, Athens (GR)
2017 Par VoiX postale, Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi (BE)
2017 Dissolve into a red dwarf, ISLAND, Brussels (BE)
2016 BOLERO an international art project on the move - KIOSK, HALTE Collective, Geneva (CH)
2016 Belgische Wochen, Galerie Anne Voss, Dortmund (D)
2015 DUENDE, VM23, Arnhem, (NL)
2015 A Revolution A Day, 78 dagen, 78 kunstenaars, 78 revoluties in De Standaard, Beaufort buiten de grenzen / curated by Nico Dockx, (BE)
2015 (Re)View, cultuurcentrum Hasselt, (BE)
2015 BOLERO an international art project on the move - Torun, Baskent University, Ankara (TUR) / Ponta D’ Praia Gallery, Mindelo (CV)
2015 Multiples et éditions limitées – Enlarge Your Art, Brussels (BE)
2014 A poem a day – curated/edited by Bruno Devos, Nico Dockx & Clara Meister, MuZEE, Oostende (BE)
2014 SECONDroom@TRAFFIC, SPOOR 9 / An ideal for living – Central Station Antwerp (BE)
2014 Phantom Reality Reset – TETEM, Enschede (NL)
2014 Abécédaire du surréalisme - Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris (FR)
2014 Du vinaigre à l’enclume - The Corner Gallery, Brussels (BE)) 2014
2013 <ART ATTACK> - arteVentuno archives, Hasselt (BE) 2013
2013 LXXV a tribute to Wout Vercammen – arteVentuno archives, Hasselt (BE)
2012 à mon avis II, Spazio 117, Palermo, (IT) 2012
2012 Un abécédaire pour la Louvière - Le surréalisme dans les collections de la Province de Hainaut, Centre de la Gravure et de l’Image imprimée, La Louvière (BE)
2012 BOLERO an international art project on the move - Gallery Rivelli 798, Beijing (CN), (work has been censored and removed from the exhibition). BOLERO, part of Manifesta 9 Parallel Events, TVL café / library, Genk (BE)
2012 Ik wens / I wish, Stichting IK, Oost-Souburg (NL)
2011 Anonymously Yours, Maison Gregoire, Brussels (BE)
2011 BOLERO an international art project on the move, 1Shanthiroad studio/gallery, Bangalore, (IN)
2010 100 Visual artists @ Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke (BE)
2010 Nuit Blanche, Beursschouwburg, Brussels (BE)
2010 (In)dépendence chacha, Atlas, Antwerp (BE)
2010 BOLERO an international art project on the move - Laphto Complex, Old Airport, Addis Abeba (ETH), Alliance Française, Dar es Salaam (TZA), Karoo Gallery, Prince Albert (ZAF), Ho Chi Minh City (VIE)
2010 XXI – into dAdA, ArteVentuno, Hasselt (BE)
2010 Wunderkammer, MDA (Media & Design academy), C-mine, Genk (BE)
2010 Let’s stick together, Design Vlaanderen, Brussels (BE), Cumhuriyet Müzesi Galerisi, Republic Museum, Istanbul (TUR)
2009 White Boxes, exhibition project, arteVentuno, Genk (BE)
2009 Donkey Brassband & 100 visual artists, Otillia Pribilla Gallery, Antwerp (BE)
2009 North, East, South, video installation, Live recording, Prima Donkey, De Molens van Orshoven, Leuven (BE)
2009 The Art and Collections II Verbeke Foundation on Display, Stichting Np3, Groningen (NL)
2008 Ware Liefde, De Markten, Brussels (BE)
2008 Van Provo tot nu, kunst in een sociaal politieke context, CC De Werf , Aalst (BE)
2008 Carte Blanche, Projection ‘Ahasverus’ – Prima Donkey, Ancienne Belgique, Brussels (BE) 2008/11/22
2008 The Time Up Series – Prima Donkey, video installation ‘Mortificatio’, De Molens van Orshoven, Leuven (BE) 2008/06/25
2007 Le temps d’une tour, Koma gallery, Mons (BE)
2007 Another Publication, Casco, Utrecht (NL)
2007 Vth Novosibirsk International Biennial of Contemporary Graphic Art, State Art Museum, Novosibirsk (RU)
2007 Does it help?, Cultural Centre, Kunstencentrum Signe, Heerlen (NL)
2007 Twenty one once again , arteVentuno, Hasselt (BE)
2007 Fill ’er Up, Dennis Anderson Gallery, Antwerp (BE) 2007
2006 House in transition – ‘Garderobe’, Stedelijk Museum Ypenburg, The Hague (NL) 2006-2007
2006 Vestis vanitatis, Belgium’s calling, Lineart, Ghent (BE), France Lejeune Fine Art
2006 Al caro Giorgio Gaber, Circolo Artistico Politecnico, Napels (I), Palazzo della Ragione, Milaan (IT)
2005 Artistes Belges, Arts Centre of Shawinigan, Québec (CA)
2005 Mes amis les animaux, France Lejeune Fine Art, Antwerp (BE)
2005 Scents:Locks:Kisses Arts Centre Z33, Hasselt (BE)
2004 Vanitas, Eitelkeit van de IJdelheden, IKOB Arts Centre, Internationales Kunstzentrum Ostbelgien, Eupen (BE)
2003 ± O, Les Contemporains Gallery, Brussels (BE) 2003
2003 Vanités contemporaines, Museum of Fine Arts Roger-Quilliot, Clermont-Ferrand (FR)
2003 Vanitas, De Markten Cultural Centre, Brussels (BE)
2001 ‘tBeest, De Buiting Cultural Centre, Paal (BE)
2000 Manumissio, Les Contemporains Gallery, Brussels (BE)
2000 Crossing Borders, new art from the U.S. and Europe, Bowman & Penelec Galleries, Meadville, Pennsyl vania (US)
2000 OEuvre graphiques d’artistes contemporains, Espace des Arts, Gordes (FR)
2000 Réparations, Centre en Art Actuel, Lelieu, Québec (CA)
2000 Autour de Frans Masereel, Museum of Fine Arts, Le Locle (CH)
2000 Frans Masereel y la Estampa Contemporánea en Flandes, Palacio Revillagigedo, Gijón, Asturias (ES)
2000 Musée en oeuvre(s), Bâtiment Solvay, Charleroi (BE)
2000 Dada-Surréalisme-Avant Grades, un siècle de collage en Belgique, Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris (F)
1999 H2O, International Mail Art Exhibition, Guttorm Nordø, Oslo (NO)
1999 FaXimille-Date and Time, Exhibition Hall for Contemporary Art, Budapest (HU)
1999 Ils vivent à la colle, Villa Pelsser, Henri-Chapelle (BE) 1999
1998 Hommage à Rops (Cent graveurs pour un centenaire), Félicien Rops Museum, Namen (BE)
1998 Un siècle de collage en Belgique, Centre de la Gravure et de l’Image Imprimée, La Louvière (BE)
1998 Belgická Grafika, Dvor Gallery, Bratislava (SI)
1997 4th international Biennial of Graphic Art, Contemporary Art Gallery, Chamalières (FR)
1997 Graphic Art, Cultural Centre of the city Musashino, Musashino (JP)
1997 22th international Biennial of Graphic Art, Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana (SI)
1997 Biennial exhibition of prints, Museum of Fine Arts, Yamanashi (JP)
1994 IV–V International Art Triennial Majdanek, Majdanek State Museum, Lublin (PL) 1994, 1997
1985 International Triennial of Art – Against War, Majdanek State Museum, Lublin (PL) 1985, 1988