Guy Rombouts




né 1949 à Leuven, Belgique
vit et travaille à Anvers, Belgique



Guy Rombouts comes from a family of printers and started by training to be a typographer. In the end however he turned to art, but his work continues to show a fascination for language, writing and sign systems. Rombouts was inspired by the alphabet from the time he started producing his first art.

For instance he collected objects whose names comprised three letters, always starting with another letter. The 24 objects - he was unable to find an equivalent for the letters Q and X - were arranged alphabetically and displayed as such in a gallery. He also made pictograms of them, thus creating a pictorial script in which every object represented a letter.

In 1984 Guy Rombouts' artistic quest resulted in the invention of AZART, his own alphabet which he and his partner Monica Droste (1958-1998) used to make rebuslike installations in all sorts of materials. AZART comprises 27 different line sections which represent the 26 letters of our alphabet and a space sign. The sign for A for example is an Angular line, B is represented by a Barred line and C by a bent line or Curve. Each of the 26 lines is linked to its own colour: for example A to aquamarine, B to bordeaux and C to lemon yellow (citroengeel in Dutch). The texts that are made with this new alphabet therefore acquire a sensual aspect which is generally missing from Western script. The playful and colourful pictorial language of the work often contrasts with the generally rather heavy literary content derived from quotations by artists, writers and philosophers.

At the 'Over de mensen en de dingen' exhibition Guy Rombouts' work included Met drie woorden eten. He designed this cutlery together with Monica Droste. The silhouettes of the spoon, knife and fork form the words they represent in AZART. The outline of the fork comprises the letter lines Vault, Ogee, Rhombic and Key pattern (VORK). Although the word 'fork' in ordinary writing does not resemble a real fork, here you can actually eat with the word itself. In this way the link between language and the sensual world is briefly less arbitrary.

Principales Expositions personnelles:

1986     
Galerie van de Academie, Waasmunster
1987     
Galerie del Cortile, Roma
Musée d'Art Moderne, Bruxelles
1988   
Galerie L. Bilinelli, Bruxelles
1989   
De Boterhal, Hoorn (NL)
Beursschouwburg, Bruxelles
Jablonka Galerie, Köln
Lumen Travo, Amsterdam
The Douglas Hide Gallery, Dublin
1990   
Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles
La Criée, Rennes
De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam
Galerie des Beaux-Arts "Art Cologne", Cologne
Jablonka Galerie, Köln
"Par Azart", Museum Fodor, Amsterdam
Universiteitsbibliotheek, Leuven
1993     
"D'un Art l'Autre, Par les yeux du langage",
Galerie de Marseille, Marseille
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi
Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, Diepenheim
Provinciaal Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Hasselt.
1994   
Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles
Lumen Travo Galerie, Amsterdam
Galerie Van Den Berge, Goes (NL)
1996     
"In Situ", Centre culturel de Kern, Anvers
Scryption, Musée de l’écriture, Tilburg
1997   
Sculptures dans la ville, Bvd E. Jacqmain, Bruxelles
1998      MUHKA (Musée pour l’art contemporain) Antwerpen

Principales Réalisations

1992   
“ Transformations”, Ecole h Louvain (B)
1993   
“ Jardin des lettres ”, Diepenheim (NL)
1995   
“ Morceaux choisis “, Rijnstate Hopital, Arnhem (NL)
“ L’appétit de la forme dans la matière “, Association  économique  flamande, Antwerpen
Station de Métro, Tomberg, Bruxelles
Sculpture en plein-air, Watermael Boitsfort, Bruxelles
Création de 9 ponts,Javaeiland, Amsterdam


Principales Expositions de groupe

1986   
"Initiatief '86", Gent
"In the Maalstrom", Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles
"Portrait de scène à l'ile aux phoques", Casa Frollo,Venezia
"Controllo es destino dei modelli della giovane arte  internazionale", Canino
1987     
Museum of Contemporary Art, Gent
19th Biennal, Sao Paulo
"Language and Metalanguage", De Lege Ruimte, Brugge
1988    
Beelden Buiten, Tielt
"Aperto", 34th Biennal, Venezia   
Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles
Galerie Adrien Maeght, Paris-Montrouge
"Facsimilé". De Zaak, Groningem
1989    
Klagsburn Gallery, New York
Beyond the everyday object,Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst,Antwerpen
Tanya Rumpff Gallerie, Haarlem
1990   
Beeldenstorm, De Beyerd, Breda
Köln Show, Monika Sprüth Galerie, Köln
Artisti (della Fiandria), Palazzo Sagredo, Venezia
Ponton 90, Temse
Standard Graphik, Köln
Kunst Projekt, Raadzaal, Lommel
Stad aan de stroom, kaai, Antwerpen
1991   
Een tijdsbeeld, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten, Brussel
Stof en Geest, Gymnasium Felisenum, Velsen
Museum d'Hondt-Dhaenen, Deurle
Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo
Buchstäblich , van der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal
Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles
"ARS USU" Gemeentemuseum den Haag
1992     
"Tierra de Nadie", Hospital Real, Granada
"Word en Beeld", Museum van Hedenaagse Kunst, Antwerpen
"Opus Parvum Parva Pecunia", Galerie de Marseille,Marseille                          
"Echec et Mat", Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles
"The Binery Era; New Interactions", Musée d'Ixelles, Bruxelles et  Kunsthalle, Wien
1993   
"L'Art en Belgique depuis 1980", Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de  Belgique, Bruxelles
"Kontakt '93", Eupen.
"Autour du langage", C.A.P.C., Bordeaux
1994
"Object in Edition", ICC, Anvers
"Vista", Park de sculptures Wolfslaar, Breda
1995   
"Entre ciel et terre", Galerie de Marseille, Paris
"Création de l'Alphabet", Musée de l'Ecriture, Tilburg 
"La géométrie du sacré", Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles
"Inventaire-morceaux choisis",Musée d'art et d'industrie,  Roubaix
"Vous-êtes ici", Museum Van Bommel Van Dam, Venlo, NL
1996   
"Jusqu'à l'école,à Bordeaux,à Johannesburg...",Capc,Bordeaux
 “Oeuvres du FRAC Picardie”, FRAC Picardie, Amiens
“Ourtzent en Verzameling”, Museum D’Hondt-Dhaenens, Deunzte
“Kunstwerken verworven door de Vlaamse Gemeenschap in 1994 et 1995”, 
Museum van hedengaagse Kunst,                      Antwerpen
“Maison Belge”, Cologne
1997   
“Maakt Kunst Staat?” Provincial Museum, Hasselt
“Collection Découverte”,Musée d’art contemporain CAPC, Bordeaux
“Structure”, Musée d’Ixelles, Bruxelles
“Enigmes & caractères”, Maison des Arts et Loisirs, Laon (F)
“Between trees and waves”, Parc Avegoor, Dieren (NL)
“Atelier”, Musée d’art contemporain, Liège
 “VIII° Biennale internationale de l’estampe et du dessin de Taipei”, 
Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei Taiwan
1998   
Musée d’Ixelles, Bruxelles