HARRY GRUYAERT: Café Belgica - SPECIAL EDITION
Special edition including a numbered and signed copy of the FIFTY ONE Publication Café Belgica, a signed archival pigment print (Belgium, 1988), and a beermat.
| ARTIST | Harry Gruyaert |
| TITLE | Café Belgica |
| YEAR | 2021 |
| MEDIUM | Soft cover (book) / Archival pigment print |
| SIZE | 21 x 15 cm (book) / 19 x 13 cm (print) |
| PAGES | 101 |
| LANGUAGE | English |
| EDITION | Edition of 30 |
| SIGNATURE | Signed and numbered (book) / signed (print) |
| MISC |
With texts by Roger Szmulewicz and Stephan Vanfleteren |
GALLERY FIFTY ONE is proud to present its new FIFTY ONE publication by Harry Gruyaert with images taken in Belgium between the 1970s and 1980s.
"We Belgians are used to seeing people have fun, get drunk, dance or do whatever else they please in this temple of emotions. To sober outsiders, cafés are an enigmatic territory, where a miracle potion is served. It's Harry instead of Asterix chez les Belges. In all likelihood, the photographer had to leave his comfort zone to better understand it. Taking a step back to see the bigger picture. Leaving to arrive. It's ironic that no other Belgian was able to preserve this culture as brilliantly as Gruyaert. I used the word preserve on purpose. Unlinke wine, beer is not stored. It is consumed as soon as possible. Perhaps that's why beer drinkers are so impatient when they're thirsty."
(Stephan Vanfleteren, from his introduction to the new FIFTY ONE Publication 'Café Belgica' by Harry Gruyaert)