DAVID DE BEYTER
Born in 1985.
Lives and works between Paris and Lille (France).
David De Beyter is an artist photographer. His approach to photography is both conceptual and documentary. His artistic work is mainly based on the concept of landscape practice(s). He develops photographic, video and sculptural projects, presented in exhibitions in the form of immersive spaces. He is a graduate of the La Cambre photography workshop and Le Fresnoy - Studio national des arts contemporains.
THE SKEPTICS
The Skeptics is an artistic research project that draws its inspiration from an amateur practice derived from ufology: scientific ufology. This marginal community of thinkers brings together around a hundred amateurs around the scientist Juan Vicente Ballestros in Spain and Erling P. Strand in Norway. But since the 1970s, it has been in the United States that it has been most prolific, centred around the famous sceptic Philip J. Klass.
There are three main strands to her artistic research. The first is conceived as a photographic survey of the volcanic landscapes of Spain and the United States, known in the scientific jargon of ufology as 'magical places'. The second R.O.T.G focuses on the iconographic backgrounds of this amateur science of emergence, scientific ufology. Flash Blindness, the final section, is an experimental investigation into the very materiality of photography and its speculative dimension. This part of the research will engage a reflection and a double discourse around the image, that of the limit of photography and that of the limit of the representation of the elsewhere.
The Skeptics is a series that can be seen as a reflection on the obsolescence of a belief, on the collapse of a myth. By focusing on this community of sceptical ufologists, the project will seek to reveal the forgotten contemporary practices that have “sculpted” the imaginary of geological chaos. Jean Rouch once said that "the role of anthropology is to put disturbing objects into circulation". By focusing on these successive waves of apparitions in the 80s and 90s, the project offers us a reflection on the loss of utopias and the question of progress, and questions in depth the mythology that scientific ufologists are trying to deconstruct: the governance of our reality by the goddesses of technology.
BIG BANGERS
Big Bangers is a long-term project combining film, photography and sculpture. It is based on an amateur practice derived from auto-cross, the Big Bangers, a popular practice of destroying cars found in northern France, Belgium and the United Kingdom. The beauty of the gesture and the philosophy of the community lies in the fact of destroying ordinary cars by violent impacts that compress engines and bodies. An aesthetic of destruction where, in amateur jargon, the wreckage that results from the impact is called a "self-sculpture".
The Big Bangers project focuses on three research areas.The first, the transfiguration of the landscape through the amateur practice of destruction, is a notion intrinsically linked to the project. The second, the inertia of chaos, attempts to explore the limits of the sculptural gesture. Inspired by the performative acts carried out by enthusiasts on the periphery of the practice, this research reflects on the ambiguity of the status of a destructive gesture, imbued with profound violence and yet totally devoid of any political, social or moral claim. The third theme is that of the archive/document, and plays on the ambiguity of image registers. Although they call them "self-sculptures", fans of Big Bangers generally keep only the images. Archives, fanzines, videos and amateur photos are the starting point for this third research project, both as subject and medium, with the idea of making archives.
“The Big Bangers project seeks to reveal, in the representation of a practice of destruction, a reflection on obsolescence and dematerialisation. Through its anthropological approach, it confronts us with a kind of brutal and chaotic culture, in which the ruined car becomes a trophy. By deliberately extracting from this practice a whole series of forms akin to sculpture, he challenges the notion of progress and plunges us into what seems to be an echo of a society that produces its own ruins.The whole project suggests the disarticulation of a world that is recomposed in fragments in the exhibition space. I see the exhibition space as an immersive space.
As a musician, I'm also influenced by the live concert experience of the post-hardcore scene in which I play. These communities share certain similarities on several levels. So what I'm trying to capture in the immersive, perhaps aggressive, space is the result of the experience of destruction as observed backstage at the car races. The exhibition space offers a fragmented reading, like a hypothesis that brings together photographs, films, archives and sculptures in the same space”.
Paris, France
CV
Né en 1985.
Vit et travaille à Paris.
EXPOSITIONS PERSONNELLES / SOLO SHOWS
2022
Mass, Galerie Bacqueville, Lille, France
Build and Destroy, RVB Books, Paris, France
2021
Around Video Art Fair, Galerie Bacqueville, Lille, France
Unbound Exhibition / Unseen, Galerie Bacqueville, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Unseen, Galerie Bacqueville, Westergas Klonneplein, Amsterdam, Netherlands
D'où rayonne la nuit, Galerie Bacqueville - Pays-Bas, Vlissingen, Netherlands
2020
The Skeptics, Galerie Bacqueville, Lille, France
2019
Unseen, Galerie Bacqueville, Westergas Klonneplein, Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Skeptics - New Discovery Award - Les Rencontres photographiques, Arles, France
David De Beyter & Paco Rabanne, Galerie Lafayette, Paris, France
Big Bangers, La Halle aux sucres, Dunkerque, France
Photo London, Galerie Bacqueville, London, United Kingdom
2018
Damage Inc., Salon a ppr oc he, Galerie Bacqueville, Paris, France
Damage Inc., RVB Books, Paris, France
2017
Fleeing The Field, Galerie Bacqueville, Lille, France
2016
Build and Destroy, Centre Photographique d'Île-de-France, Pontault-Combault, France
Nothing Else Matters, Still Gallery, Anvers, Belgium
Concrete Mirrors, Atelier des FuCam, Mons, Belgium
Nothing Else Matters, Centre d'art Imatge/Image, Orthez, France
Concrete Mirrors, Forum des halles, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
2015
Just a Good Crash, Centre d'art le BBB, Toulouse, France
2014
Archéologies du futur, Fresnoy - Studio national, Tourcoing, France
EXPOSITIONS COLLECTIVES / GROUP SHOWS
2022
Festival L’été photographique, Lectoure, France
Corps célestes, Biennale de la photographie, Mulhouse, France
Art Rotterdam, Netherlands
Dystopia, Galerie Bacqueville, Lille, France
2021
Art Paris, Galerie Bacqueville, Paris, France
2020
Mouvements, Galerie Bacqueville, Lille, France
Un autre monde /// Dans notre monde - Frac Grand Large - Hauts-de-France, Dunkerque, France
2019
Auf Kollision, Kunstverein Ingolstadt, Germany
Unseen, Westergas Klonneplein, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Red Eye, Hangar Art Center, Bruxelles, Belgium
Remodel the World, Pearl Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2018
The Wind of Time, Festival Lianzhoufoto, China
The Present Moment. Body in a Context, Berthold Art Center, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Festival Viva Villa, Marseille, France
Foam Talent, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Francfort, Germany
The Hobbyist, Les Rencontres de la photographie, Arles, France
Stratégies de ré-enchantement, Institut Français, Madrid, Spain
Festival de Serralongue, France
Collaborate Photoworks - Free Range, Londres, United Kingdom
Foam Talent - Beaconsfield, London, United Kingdom
Hors Piste - La Vallée, Bruxelles, Belgium
Foam Talent - Red Hook Labs, New York, USA
Biennale de l'image possible, Musée de La Boverie, Liège, Belgium
The Hobbyist, Fotomuseum de Winterthur, Switzerland
2017
25 ans D.C.A - L'Art au centre, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
YIA Art Fair, Galerie Bacqueville, Paris, France
Biennale des arts de Valence, Galerie Del Tossal, Valencia, Spain
Foam Talent, Fotomuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Estampa Art Fair, Madrid, Spain
Busan International photography Festival, Busan Culture Center, Korea
Prix Voies Off - Les Rencontres d’Arles, France
Construire / Déconstruire, Roubaix, France
Nouvelles acquisitions, Artothèque Les Arts au mûr, Pessac, France
2016
Dog Day Cabinet II, Le Clignoteur, Bruxelles, Belgium
La Samaritaine, Paris, France
L'Espace des possibles, Arthothèque de Pessac, France
The Gods Must Be Crazy, Part III, Anvers, Belgium
2015
The Gods Must Be Crazy, Part II, Center De Directeurwoning, Roeselare, Belgium
Nouveaux Mondes, Festival d'art de Dieppe, New Haven, United Kingdom
Distant Fictions, Centre d'art Jerwood Gallery, Brighton, United Kingdom
Entre-Temps, Espace le carré, Lille, France
Paysage, corps, contemplation, Lux / Scène nationale, Valence, France
A Specter From the Land of If #3, Galerie Stilll, Anvers, Belgium
2014
Au-delà de l'image, Galerie Estraro/Escougnou, Paris, France
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Landskrona Museum, Sweden
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Museum of Fine Arts, Yekaterinburg, Russia
Exposition Air, Arras, France
2013
Manifesto, Festival de photographie, Toulouse, France
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, USA
Géomorphismes - Restitution projet de résidence, Auch, France
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Rosphoto, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Devos Art Museum, Marquette, Michigan, USA
2012
Stratégies des espaces - Séquence 2, Centre d’art le BBB, Toulouse, France
Burning Up !, La Cambre Photographie, Art Brussels Off, Bruxelles, Belgium
Festival Circulation(s) - Carte Blanche de Christine Ollier
Images du temps qui est le nôtre, Galerie Christian Boltanski, Blanc-Mesnil, Paris, France
2011
Made in Choi, Atelier Choi, Paris, France
All Hell Broke Loose, Festival Art et la ville, Tournai, Belgium
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest, Hungary
Nord : Regards croisés, Lille, France
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Caochangdi PhotoSpring Festival, Pékin, China
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Galerie Azzedine Alaïa, Paris, France
Carte blanche au Fresnoy, Fondation Sofilm, Sofia, Budapest
Infinite Nature, Fotomuseum, Vienne, Austria
Borders / No Borders, Centre culturel les chiroux, Liège, Belgium
Facing Forward, Forward Thinking Museum
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Preus Museum, Horten, Norway
Ososphère, Festival d’arts numériques Strasbourg, France
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Aperture Foundation, New-York, USA
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Galleria Carla Sozzani, Milan, Italy
Pla(t)form, Fotomuseum, Winterthur, Switzerland
Passages, Festival accè)s( Anciens Abattoirs, Pau, France
2010
Borders / No Borders, European Month of Photography, Kommunale Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Centre Gallery, Miami Dade College, USA
Regeneration 2 – Tour, International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Les Rencontres de la photographie, Arles, France
Regeneration 2 – Tour, Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
Festoval F/Stop, Leipzig, Germany
Panorama 12 - Le Fresnoy - Studio national, Tourcoing, France
Fantasmagories, Château de Capdeville, Toulouse, France
Coups de coeurs, Triennale de La Cambre, Bruxelles, Belgium
PRIX & BOURSES / AWARDS
2019
Finaliste, New Discovery Award, Les Rencontres d’Arles, France
Nominé, C/O Berlin Talent Award, Berlin, Germany
Bourse de la région Nord Pas-de-Calais, France
2018
Lauréat, Foam Talent, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2017
Finaliste, Prix Voies Off, Les Rencontres d'Arles, France
2016
Présélectionné, Prix Levallois, Paris, France
Présélectionné, Prix Jeune Création Le Bal / ADAGP, Paris, France
2014
Bourse de la région Nord Pas-de-Calais, France
Bourse de la FNAGP, Paris, France
2012
Aide à la création, DRAC Nord Pas-de-Calais, France
2011
Aide à l'installation, DRAC Nord Pas-de-Calais, France
Lauréat, Prix Facing Forward, Forward Thinking Museum
2007
Lauréat, Prix Emerging Talent - View Magazine
RÉSIDENCES / RESIDENCIES
2020
Bourse de recherche, Institut pour la Photographie, Lille, France
2018
Casa de Velázquez, Madrid, Spain
2015
Frac Franche-Comté
2014
Diep Haven
2013
Saint-Martin du Gers
2011
Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France
COLLECTIONS
CNAP - Collections nationales du Centre national des Arts Plastiques, Paris, France
Foam Photography Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Fotomuseum Winthertur, Switzerland
Casa de Velázquez, Académie des Arts de France, Madrid, Spain
Arthothèque de Pessac, Pau, France
PUBLICATIONS / PRESS
2019
L'oeil de la photographie, Viva villa, retour sur expérience
2018
M Le Monde, Portfolio Crash, par Roxana Azimi
2017
Point Contemporain, Construire / Déconstruire, par Laurence Gossart
Art Press 2, La Photographie à l’épreuve, par Étienne Hatt
Mouvement, Gladiateurs des Flandres, par Carole Bailly
2016
L’Œil, Une esthétique de la destruction, par Christine Coste
Art Juice, Big Bangers, par Martin Norest
La Gazette Drouot, Build and Destroy, par Zaha Redman
Le Quotidien de l'art, Les Frontières du lisible, par Natacha Wolinski
France Fine Art, Interview par Anne-Frédérique Fer
Libération, Plein Cadre, par Clémentine Mercier
The Steidz, Paysages de destruction, par Camille Tallent
Art Press, Introducing, par Etienne Hatt
2012
Ephemera, Centre d’art le BBB
The Word Magazine, présentation de la photographie belge
Urbanautica, présentation Portfolio
La Libre Belgique, Burning Up !, par Jean-Marc Bodson
Festival Circulations
2011
Pays-Bas Français, par Filip Luyxck
Revue 50°Nord #2, Concrete mirrors, par Raymond Balau
Forever Young, par Fabrice Bousteau, Galerie Vallois
Regeneration 2, par Aperture
2010
Borders / No Borders
Regeneration 2
Soft Machine
Panorama 12, par Le Fresnoy – Studio national
Fantasmagories
2009
L’Art même N°44