Stefan Wouters (born 1972) is a Belgian visual artist, curator and researcher of Happenings and Performance art. Wouters was born in Antwerp. While working in the family business of his parents, he studied painting and drawing at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp (DKO). He soon started to exhibit his paintings and the work of his fellow students in and around Antwerp.[1]
Inspired by the art history classes he attended at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Wouters decided to study Art History and Archaeology at the Free University of Brussels (VUB). During these studies he worked as a translator and a writer for the communication department of the Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels. His interest increasingly shifted towards time-based art forms and decided to write a Ph.D. exploring the relation between Happenings and subcultures during the 1960s.[2]
In order to finance his studies he collaborated for the online database Belgium is Happening and participated as a performance artist in the international performance group Virtual Vérité, led by Los Angeles–based artist Harry Gamboa, Jr. These events also marked the beginnings of the Belgium Performance Festival in which Wouters was assigned as a curator.
In 2015 he received a double Ph.D in Art History and Archaeology (Free University of Brussels) and in Theater Sciences (University of Antwerp) for his research on the Belgian Happening scene of the mid-1960s. The same year he was asked to give a lecture on the afterlife of Dada during the 56th edition of the Venice Biennale.[3]
Currently Wouters is a researcher and professor at the Free University of Brussels.[4]
Performances (selection)
edit- The Cranes of Antwerp, 2012.[5]
- Continental Drift, Bruges 2012.[6]
- Floating in Flanders, Antwerp 2012.[7]
- Day Two in Three Parts, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp 2012.[8]
- The Human Loom, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp 2013.[9]
- A Tribute to the Happy Space Maker, Museum of Modern Art, Antwerp 2013.[10]
- Untunnel, Antwerp 2013.[11]
- Calibre Libre, Antwerp 2013.[12]
- Mexican Bridge Performance, Antwerp 2014.[13]
- Brussels Underground Poetry Festival, Brussels 2014, 2015.[14]
- Better Start with the Dessert, Antwerp 2014.[15]
- Was het maar zo Makkelijk, Rotterdam 2016.[16]
- Megaphone Ensemble, Fête de la Musique, Brussels 2016.[17]
References
edit- ^ "Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen". www.ap.be (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ^ Wouters, Stefan, ‘The Influence of Happenings on the Performative Display of Subcultures: Insight into Beat, Mod, Provo and the Hipster Movements’, in: Dhoest, Alexander et al., The Borders of Subculture. Resistance and the Mainstream, Routledge, 15/07/2015, p. 55-69.
- ^ "Hans de Wolf, Stefan Wouters, and Joris D'hooghe on Dada's Afterlife at Salon Suisse in Venice". www.vub.ac.be. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- ^ "Stefan Wouters". ebsn.eu. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- ^ Gamboa Jr., Harry (9 October 2012). "The Cranes of Antwerp". Harry Gamboa Jr. Antwerp. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ^ Gamboa Jr., Harry (12 October 2012). "Continental Drift". Harry Gamboa Jr. Bruges. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ^ Gamboa Jr., Harry (15 October 2012). "Floating in Flanders". Harry Gamboa Jr. Antwerp. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ^ Pas, Johan (Ed.), Archive as Performance, Performance as Archive, Track Report, KASKA, Antwerp 2013, p. 100-103.
- ^ "Die Wunderkinder". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ "'A Tribute to the Happy Space Maker'". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- ^ Gamboa Jr., Harry (15 February 2013). "Untunnel". Harry Gamboa Jr. Antwerp. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ^ Gamboa Jr., Harry (13 May 2013). "Calibre Libre". Harry Gamboa Jr. Antwerp. Archived from the original on 31 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ^ Gamboa Jr., Harry, Vie 21. Photo Journal, 1, Create Space Independent Publishing Platform, Charleston 2014, p. 36-43.
- ^ "Brussels Planetarium Poetry Fest | Brussels Planetarium Poetry Fest". poetryfest.brussels (in English, French, and Dutch). Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ^ Gamboa Jr., Harry (14 July 2014). "Better Start with the Dessert". Harry Gamboa Jr. Antwerp. Archived from the original on 18 September 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ^ "Was het maar zo makkelijk". www.karinabeumer.nl (in English and Dutch). Rotterdam. 2016. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ^ "Zica-N (B), Megaphone-Ensemble (INT), Ignatz & de stervende Honden (B) + Orphan Fairytale (B)". www.lesateliersclaus.com. 18 June 2016. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2023.