Romain Weintzem

Romain Weintzem - Beaufort 2024

Romain Weintzem grew up in Paris, where Art Nouveau adorns the streets, including the iconic metro entrances designed by Hector Guimard. Today, the Paravang, a windscreen with green benches overlooking the marina, remains a graceful remnant of the Belle Époque in Blankenberge.

At first glance, Romain Weintzem's work is a beautiful sculpture with nostalgic, elegant shapes inspired by Art Nouveau. The title Attentifs ensemble brings a second reading that is harsher and colored by violence. This fragment from a chilling message broadcast on French public transport, inviting passengers to look out for each other, inspired the artist to design his work. The structure, consisting of eight chairs separated by steel partitions, invites the user to observe the surroundings without communicating with their neighbors, revealing the dystopian character of our surveillance societies. Three structures were placed in the city, enhancing the panoptic effect. In Romain Weintzem's oeuvre, biting humor and social criticism are never far away.

Romain Weintzem

France, °1987

Romain Weintzem uses metal, plaster, and wood as building blocks to shape his ideas. His attention to the technical qualities of these materials acts as a driving force, as a conscious move to create handcrafted works in an era of computer-assisted productions. He often starts from a predetermined plan, an idea of what he wants to make and show, creates dozens of sketches and designs, which he then casts into concrete, workable forms. In his visual practice, which spans sculpture and design, he frequently employs formal elements from various repertoires.

The themes in his work refer to concepts such as threat and protection, but also to the pomp surrounding heroic events. He draws on elements from military science or martial arts, such as a series of silver knives, bringing them into fictional dimensions in his designs. The barbed wire that announces the yacht club in Lampedusa speaks volumes, just like his elaborately crafted religious statues and the titles used, such as 'Killer Whale', 'Le tank y passe' or 'Front de mer'. His ideas often approach you playfully, until the tragedy of them starts to resonate.

Romain Weintzem is always looking for new technical challenges and works on ordinary objects to give them an unusual function and an unexpected meaning. With a resolutely craft-oriented approach, he treats his creations with care and lets imagination speak, characterized by significant societal themes. What you see at first glance as a beautiful work quickly allows the consequences of our current social structure to seep in. His works are containers that can evoke critical questions and sharp reflections around calamity, danger, and (the illusion of) safety.

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