Independent Collectors

The Power and The Glory

Opening on the eve of the now infamous 2016 US elections, “The Power and The Glory” set out to examine the tension between an artist’s desire to shine and their desire to exist.

HARRY BENSON, Donald Trump, The Taj Mahal Casino, Atlantic City, 1990. Photo: Harry Benson CBE. © Hugard and Vanoverschelde
HARRY BENSON, Donald Trump, The Taj Mahal Casino, Atlantic City, 1990. Photo: Harry Benson CBE. © Hugard and Vanoverschelde

“The Power and The Glory” features a selection of works from the Brussels-based Charles Riva Collection in order to evoke the ambivalence of the art world – something that is too dissimilar from politics in its quest for recognition and conquest of power.

With the current state of US affairs, the uncertainty of the new presidency and the havoc that could potentially be caused, the exhibition plays with references of power – political power in particular.

The exhibition includes works by John Miller, Paul McCarthy, Sherrie Levine, Josh Smith, David Ostrowski, Roe Ethridge and Nathan Hylden to name a few, and Pierre Yves Desaive, art historian and curator, collaborated with the collection for the show.

JOHN MILLER, The Edge of Night, 2008. © Hugard and Vanoverschelde
JOHN MILLER, The Edge of Night, 2008. © Hugard and Vanoverschelde
JONATHAN HOROWITZ, Rainbow American Flag on Orange Field II for Jaspers in the Style of the Artists Boyfriend, 2015. Courtesy Jonathan Horowitz and Xavier Hufkens Brussels. © Thomas Mueller, New York
JONATHAN HOROWITZ, Rainbow American Flag on Orange Field II for Jaspers in the Style of the Artists Boyfriend, 2015. Courtesy Jonathan Horowitz and Xavier Hufkens Brussels. © Thomas Mueller, New York
PAUL MCCARTHY, Brancusi tree - Butt plug, 2007. © Charles Riva Collection and Paul McCarthy
PAUL MCCARTHY, Brancusi tree - Butt plug, 2007. © Charles Riva Collection and Paul McCarthy
JOHN GIORNO, I Want to Cum in Your Heart, 2016. © Charles Riva Collection and John Giorno
JOHN GIORNO, I Want to Cum in Your Heart, 2016. © Charles Riva Collection and John Giorno
(l–r) PAUL MCCARTHY, Pirate Party Photograph Portfolio, 2005; HERVÉ IC, La mort c'est l'autre, 2001. © Charles Riva Collection; Paul McCarthy; Hervé Ic / Hugard and Vanoverschelde
(l–r) PAUL MCCARTHY, Pirate Party Photograph Portfolio, 2005; HERVÉ IC, La mort c'est l'autre, 2001. © Charles Riva Collection; Paul McCarthy; Hervé Ic / Hugard and Vanoverschelde
(l–r) JOHN MILLER, The Edge of Night, 2008; PAUL MCCARTHY, Brancusi tree - Butt plug, 2007. © Charles Riva Collection; Paul McCarthy; Hugard and Vanoverschelde
(l–r) JOHN MILLER, The Edge of Night, 2008; PAUL MCCARTHY, Brancusi tree - Butt plug, 2007. © Charles Riva Collection; Paul McCarthy; Hugard and Vanoverschelde
(l–r) HARRY BENSON, Hillary Clinton, Blue Room, The White House, Washington DC, 1995. Photo: Harry Benson CBE; Donald Trump, New York City Office, 2016. Photo: Harry Benson CBE; REENA SPAULINGS, Untitled (Flag), 2008; ANDY HOPE 1930, Phoenix, 2006; NATHAN HYLDEN, Untitled, 2007; JOSH SMITH, Air de Paris (Announcement Painting) (White), 2006; Air de Paris (Announcement Painting) (Little White), 2006; DAVID OSTROWSKI, F (H), 2013. © Charles Riva Collection and Hugard and Vanoverschelde
(l–r) HARRY BENSON, Hillary Clinton, Blue Room, The White House, Washington DC, 1995. Photo: Harry Benson CBE; Donald Trump, New York City Office, 2016. Photo: Harry Benson CBE; REENA SPAULINGS, Untitled (Flag), 2008; ANDY HOPE 1930, Phoenix, 2006; NATHAN HYLDEN, Untitled, 2007; JOSH SMITH, Air de Paris (Announcement Painting) (White), 2006; Air de Paris (Announcement Painting) (Little White), 2006; DAVID OSTROWSKI, F (H), 2013. © Charles Riva Collection and Hugard and Vanoverschelde
(l–r) HARRY BENSON, Donald Trump, The Taj Mahal Casino, Atlantic City, 1990. Photo: Harry Benson CBE; SHERRIE LEVINE, False God, 2007; JONATHAN HOROWITZ, Rainbow American Flag on Orange Field II for Jaspers in the Style of the Artists Boyfriend, 2015 Courtesy Jonathan Horowitz and Xavier Hufkens Brussels. © Charles Riva Collection, Thomas Mueller, Hugard and Vanoverschelde
(l–r) HARRY BENSON, Donald Trump, The Taj Mahal Casino, Atlantic City, 1990. Photo: Harry Benson CBE; SHERRIE LEVINE, False God, 2007; JONATHAN HOROWITZ, Rainbow American Flag on Orange Field II for Jaspers in the Style of the Artists Boyfriend, 2015 Courtesy Jonathan Horowitz and Xavier Hufkens Brussels. © Charles Riva Collection, Thomas Mueller, Hugard and Vanoverschelde
ROE ETHRIDGE, New York (Osgood Pond), 2001. © Charles Riva Collection and Roe Ethridge
ROE ETHRIDGE, New York (Osgood Pond), 2001. © Charles Riva Collection and Roe Ethridge
JONATHAN MEESE, Napoleon de large, 2006. © Hugard and Vanoverschelde
JONATHAN MEESE, Napoleon de large, 2006. © Hugard and Vanoverschelde
ANDY HOPE 1930, Wonder, 2006. © Hugard and Vanoverschelde
ANDY HOPE 1930, Wonder, 2006. © Hugard and Vanoverschelde
MIKE KELLEY, Heavy - Hangin’- Horny, 1989. © Hugard and Vanoverschelde
MIKE KELLEY, Heavy - Hangin’- Horny, 1989. © Hugard and Vanoverschelde
MIKE KELLEY, Emerald Eyehole, 1989. © Hugard and Vanoverschelde
MIKE KELLEY, Emerald Eyehole, 1989. © Hugard and Vanoverschelde

The Charles Riva Collection is featured in the BMW ART GUIDE by INDEPENDENT COLLECTORS.

For more information visit the Charles Riva Collection.

Belgium (27)

Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens

The industrialist couple Jules and Irma Dhondt-Dhaenens began collecting art in the 1920s

Vanhaerents Art Collection

Where the connection between building and collecting is more than metaphorical

Galila Barzilaï

Galila’s P.O.C presents itself as a contemporary curiosity cabinet.

AMEXICA @The Loft

The Family Servais Collection and The Loft present AMEXICA, an exhibition curated by Marisol Rodríguez

Schöne Sentimenten at the MDD

The Belgian Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, situated in the countryside at Deurle, presents an exhibition combining real artworks together with 'absent' ones.

Sun Women

"Sun Women" presents seven artists brought together from external private collections in Riva's exhibition space.

Servais Family Collection – Dérapages & Post-Bruises Imaginaries

The current hang of works from the Servais Family Collection, curated by Dragos Olea, offers a juxtaposition of concern versus hope

The Apartment

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Christophe Veys

An interview with the collector who owns the “invisible collection”.

Animals

An exhibition detailing the representation of the animal in contemporary art.

Remembering Mwene Mutapa – Exotic Mapping of a Collection

The Brussels-based contemporary art collection marked by a non-Western focus.

Polish Village

For the first time, the collection presents an exhibition entirely dedicated to the American artist Frank Stella.

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Forever Young

The 2016 annual presentation organized by collector Alain Servais in his 900-square-meter loft in Brussels.

A from Animism, Atlas, Adrift[1]

A from Animism, Atlas, Adrift, Algorithmic, Apocryphal, Automatic, Ambiguous, Amnesia, Allegory, Above, Archive, Alien…

Transylvanian Visions

A fervent promoter and collector of Contemporary Romanian Art, with a special focus on the artistic phenomenon of the Cluj School.

Human Figure

Creating a dialogue between contemporary sculptures and works from Oceanic Art

Not Really Really

Removed from the material world and undergoing various transformations.

Walter Vanhaerents

A Story About An Island

Machinations at Verbeke

The Verbeke concept presents a private collection and lively program with an experimental spirit and devotion to nature.

Bewogen Beweging

Exhibition at the Verbeke Foundation.

Many Suns & Worlds

The Brussels based Vanhaerents Art Collection is hosting the first solo exhibition of Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno.

From East to West

Located in an old grain factory on the banks of the Campine Canal in Herentals, the Art Center Hugo Voeten represents over 1 700 works that have been collected over a thirty year period.

Break Out!

In 1966, Alighiero Boetti created a trio of sculptures titled “Zig Zag”, consisting of the fabric of a beach chair woven in inside an aluminium cube.

Warhol & Subsequent Effects

Located in a charmingly remodelled former industrial building in the Dansaert district in the heart of Brussels, the Walter Vanhaerents contemporary art collection is presented in biannual exhibitions on three floors.

Charles Riva

The Charles Riva Collection is a carefully curated gathering of contemporary art, mostly by American artists, located in Brussels, Belgium.