JIŘÍ ŠUHÁJEK | 60 years of inexhaustible creativity

MAXIM RYCKAERTS | Homebody

JEAN MARC PIRON | Soft Sculpture

STÉPHANE DUPUIS | (Not) Connected

Image taken from Stéphane Dupuis’ drawing ‘4 persons, no connection’, shown at Melis&Piron Living Room

And Art Doesn't Always Grow in the Forest (exhibition and opening) Antwerp, Saint August Church 1990

Jiri Suhajek, participating

And Art Doesn’t Always Grow in the Forest

Jiří Šuhájek was one of the 10 artists that joined for a stunning art event at Saint August’s Church, a deconsecrated baroque church, today home to Amuz, a centre for ancient music.

In 2025, MELIS & PIRON host Jiří Šuhájek with a retrospective exhibition at the size of their LIVING ROOM gallery.

That overview is showing 60 years of inexhaustible creativity: mixed media painting, glass sculpture, drawings, and a selection of award winning glass design for glass manufacturers. To these Bohemian glass production centers, counts the famous Moser Glass at Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary) in the Czech Republic.

The exhibition-event was ordered by the Cultural Department of the Province of Antwerp in 1990.

The exhibition's name is absurd: "And Art Doesn't Always Grow in the Forest". That suits the approach of L'Anverre's members. who were creating for the sake and love of creative expression and storytelling.

L'Anverre brought together the following artists for this art event:

Erwin Eisch (Germany)
Edward Leibovitz (Belgium)
Stanislas Libenský & Jaroslava Brychtová (Czechia)
Densaburo Oku (Japan)
Jaroslav Róna (Czechia)
Sem Schanzer (Belgium)
Jiří Šuhájek (Czechia)
Steve Tobin (US)
Jean-Pierre Umbdenstock (Fance)
Jean-Paul Van Lith (France)

The project has been co-curated by Marc Melis, who was a member of the artist's group L'Anverre, from 1986 to 2001. The group name comes from

The hometown of the group, Antwerpen (Anvers in French)
The fact that glass united the artists as one of their working media
The members of the group were quite aware they were often doing things upside down, the other way around, well in short: unconventionally.

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2018 Antwerpen
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