They have already invaded London, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Malmö and more recently Brussels. On every city trip, the miniature sculptures of Spanish artist Isaac Cordal arouse the curiosity of walkers and feed their imaginations. As part of Namur Confluent Culture, around forty of them will be scattered around the streets of Namur from mid-November. Ironically, but also poetically, these human figures tell a story and raise questions. They take a critical look at consumer society, drawing attention to the absurdity of our existence and castigating social inequalities. Street artist Isaac Cordal feels empathy for his little people and invites you, as you turn a corner, to reflect on your role and place in society. Or simply to take a fresh, curious look at the city and its most vulnerable inhabitants.
With Isaac Cordal’s Sculptures dans la Ville, public art is once again making its presence felt in the heart of the Walloon capital, in line with Namur Confluent Culture’s policy of encouraging the acquisition of contemporary works of art, but also promoting access to culture for all and the integration of art into the public space.
This time, the floor is given to an internationally renowned artist for a long-term urban tour. Isaac Cordal is a Spanish artist born in 1974 in Pontevedra, where he studied sculpture at the University of Fine Arts. From 2006 onwards, his “Ciment Eclipses” project catapulted him to the forefront of the street art scene, and his miniature installations scattered across many European cities have been very well received. His little 15 cm human figures are made of concrete or polyurethane resin, then installed and photographed in the urban landscape: on ledges, bus shelters, windows, manholes, pavements… The playground is endless!
In Namur, Isaac Cordal wanted to play with the dynamics of facades by placing his statuettes in unusual and unlikely places. Wedged into a niche, a bull’s eye or a fragment of wall, sitting on a ledge above a shop window or hanging from an electric cable, they form an unusual urban route to be discovered on foot between the Town Hall (rue de Fer) and the Bateliers (rue Saintraint), passing through the pedestrian precinct and the Carmes district.
In addition to the sculptures listed on the map, the artist has hidden one or other character as he strolled through Namur. It’s up to passers-by to discover them as they turn a corner.
Under the guise of anonymous civil servants, these little characters have something to say to us. The isolation of modern times, global warming, the consumer society, determinism, capitalism, social inequality, alienation through work and progress are all themes addressed by the artist in his urban interventions.
“My work is a reflection on current events and modern society. I like to think of street art as a form of combat. I like to see it as a dialogue between a place and its inhabitants, between society and its leaders.
Route map:
Rue de Fer 65, 5000 Namur, Belgique
+3281 24 69 02
confluent.culture@ville.namur.be
https://www.namur.be/fr/loisirs/culture/namur-confluent-culture
