Hans Theys is a twentieth-century philosopher and art historian. He has written and designed dozens of books on the works of contemporary artists and published hundreds of essays, interviews and reviews in books, catalogues and magazines. All his publications are based on actual collaborations and conversations with artists.

This platform was developed by Evi Bert (M HKA / Centrum Kunstarchieven Vlaanderen) in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp (Research group Archivolt), M HKA, Antwerp and Koen Van der Auwera. We also thank Idris Sevenans (HOR) and Marc Ruyters (Hart Magazine).

Walter Swennen

Walter Swennen - 2015 - Leve de huisvrouw [EN, interview]
Interview , 1 p.

 

 

 

____________

Hans Theys

 

 

Long Live Housewives !

Mini-conversation with Walter Swennen

 

 

Walter Swennen: I spent a good part of the summer brooding about the end of the art
of painting until I heard that new cave paintings, which are 40,000 years old, had been found in Spain. Then I thought that if forty thousand years ago there were people looking at these paintings and asking each other how they had done them and where they had found that beautiful earth, this strange activity would continue so long as there are people on earth. 

Yet amazement that the world is not disintegrating stayed with me, until I had a second thought. What holds the world together, I mused, is that there are housewives everywhere who go shopping every day. And then I did this painting.

 

 

Montagne de Miel, 2 August 2015

 

Translated by Helen Simpson