ACTION SCULPTURE: introduction
June 2007, while Luc De Man is immersing himself in his creations about human activity and nature, in the south of the country a handful of artists plunge into an adventure that continues to this day: the transformation of the newly built city park of the small town of Nismes into an open-air museum of contemporary art. Twelve years later, eleven cities and municipalities, situated between Sambre and Meuse, have already joined in this adventure, each creating a park for monumental sculptures. Together they form the largest permanent exhibition space featuring monumental sculptures in Europe.
This project arose in the wake of the "Eurosculptures" project, a competition for monumental sculptures, organised on the site of the former geographical centre of Europe.
In 2017, during a visit to the exhibition “Vrij Land” in Opdorp, the centre of Flanders, the organisers discovered Luc De Man’s work and invited him to join the artists of “Action Sculpture”. This marks the start of a new adventure of fascinating encounters and in situ creations based on the regional limestone. After Couvin and Philippeville, the city of Walcourt has been exhibiting Luc De Man 's sculptures in public space for a year.
Luc de Man and his fellow artists contribute to the enrichment of our contemporary patrimony and show every day that the “Action Sculpture” project has reached its original challenge to integrate contemporary art in rural areas, even if the work of art is inspired by an imaginary metropolis and the established museums, galleries, schools and exhibition spaces are traditionally concentrated in large cities.
Pierre Gilles, Director Action Sculpture
ACTION SCULPTURE: Website
