Panamarenko
(Antwerp,
1940 - Brakel,
2019 )
It is almost impossible to classify the work of Panamarenko – pseudonym of Henri Van Herwegen – within a particular style or movement. He was an artist, but also an inventor and a visionary. For years, he researched concepts such as space, movement, flight, energy and gravity. His work is a combination of artistic insight and technological experimentation. In the 1960s, after studying at the Antwerp Art Academy, Panamarenko started to appear in public with fellow artist Hugo Heyrman both dressed in identical white costumes. The issues of Happening News (1965-1966) document the happenings they organised together as V.A.G.A (‘Free Action Group Antwerp’). Following these early happenings, Panamarenko began working on his iconic constructions: spectacular backpack kites, helicopters, flying carpets and prehistoric chickens. He once said: ‘I am not a scientist, nor someone who makes art objects. The most important thing for me is that occasionally there is a kind of poetry in what I make.’ In 2013 the corner house in Antwerp’s Biekorfstraat that served as Panamarenko’s laboratory and residence for decades was opened to the public. In 2010 and 2014 the artist received honorary doctorates from the University of Hasselt and the Université de Mons respectively.
