Soyez indulgents quand vous nous comparez à ceux qui furent la perfection de l'ordre.
Nous qui quêtons partout l'aventure.

Philippe Vandenberg, Exil de peintre, Débris

On December 11, 2003, Exil de peintre opened at the Caemersklooster in Ghent, an exhibition based on the Ergo Pers publication of the same name, a book containing 64 etchings and an unpublished text, La lettre au nègre, by Philippe Vandenberg.

Philippe Vandenberg (°1952, Ghent) spent a year working on this series of etchings, which, together with a text written at the same time, were bound in a book. The etchings were produced between December 2002 and November 2003 in Henri Hemelsoet's studio.
His contact with graphic techniques gave his work a new direction. Motifs such as ‘crucifixion’ and the existential questioning of the place of man and the artist in this world are still prominent, but the visual language has become less tormented, more refined and purified. The anecdotal elements of his earlier work have given way to configurations of purely abstract lines, with references to Louise Bourgeois, Jürgen Partenheimer, Barnett Newman, and others.
The etchings were created between December 2002 and November 2003 in Henri Hemelsoet's studio. Rein Ergo was responsible for the layout and unique design. The Ergo Pers studio is located on Muinkkaai in Ghent, coincidentally adjacent to Philippe Vandenberg's former studio on Hofstraat.

Exil de peintre was published in a limited edition of 33 copies.

Exil de peintre, Débris

At the end of the project, the remaining etchings (the proofs and residual prints) were distributed. Philippe Vandenberg did not want to destroy anything. These etchings were used to create a separate series of booklets, which were distributed among friends and collectors as Débris.
The print run was 14 copies twice, each book was a unique artifact due to the unique state of the collected proofs, and each book also provided a separate insight into the creation process of some of the etchings and the typographical disclosure of the text.

Philippe Vandenberg, Débris, the second book.

Publication realized by Philippe Vandenberg and Rein Ergo using the remaining proofs of Exil de peintre. The Débris edition consists of two sets of 14 unnumbered copies, printed on Hahnemühle 150 gsm paper, all different and intended for friends of the artist and the publisher: 14 copies were finished and distributed by Philippe Vandenberg, 14 (lettered) copies by Rein Ergo. Some copies were signed or inscribed by Philippe Vandenberg.

Format: 28 cm x 36 cm (case).