About Camiel Van Breedam
Camiel Van Breedam (Boom, 1936) is an artist whose quirkiness and sense of wonder have driven him throughout an artistic journey of more than seventy years, resulting in both an extensive body of work and an impressive list of projects. Encouraged by his mentor, Belgian artist Octave Landuyt, he took part in the Jeune Peinture Belge competition for the first time in 1957, where he received an honorable mention for his 'white' works. From 1958 to 1962, Camiel Van Breedam was a member of G58, a group of artists that aimed to promote experimental, contemporary abstract art through multiple exhibitions in the Hessenhuis in Antwerp.
His artistic practice extends beyond drawing and painting and also includes the creation of assemblages, collages, reliefs, objects, sculptures, constructions, and environments. His sources of inspiration are equally diverse: the Rupel region with its vanished brickworks, the Russian avant-garde and the Bauhaus, ethnic art, New Orleans jazz, and the influence of artists such as Chaïm Soutine, Paul Klee, Joseph Cornell and Georges Vantongerloo.
The universe that is built by Camiel Van Breedam consists mostly of recycled materials. As a matter of fact, all of his artworks are made from leftover wood, paper and metal -usually remnants and discarded pieces that already bear traces of use and end up in his studio through what he himself calls his ‘collector’s mania’. These ‘lived’ materials, with their tangible history and patina, form the foundation of his visual language in which the use of a splash of red often figures as the master’s signature. Instead of deconstruction, Van Breedams creative process is one of 'reconstruction'. His ambition is to breathe new life into everyday objects, creating assemblages as a reaction against throwaway culture and environmental pollution.
On one hand, the art of Camiel Van Breedam is a call for playfulness and whimsiness; on the other, it is a tender ode to life itself: in everything that has lived there is sorrow for what is lost, but also gratitude for the memory that remains.
Born in Boom in 1936.
'le guichet'
Camiel Van Breedam
15 Revolutie
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1m76 toren
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3 raampjes
Camiel Van Breedam
A mademoiselle or
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baisers d'oiseau
Camiel Van Breedam
bar deur 2
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bergrand
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Billiard table
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blauw en wit
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Blauwe vleugel
Camiel Van Breedam
bliksemafleider
Camiel Van Breedam
boog
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Bunkertoren
Camiel Van Breedam
Chantons en choeur
Camiel Van Breedam
Christus kom thuis in een houten bakje
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Composition M.A.E. 3
Camiel Van Breedam
Dag – boek
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Dak naast groen
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De druk is te groot
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de eeuwige vlam
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Does 3
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Does 4
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Does 5
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doorzichtbare steunbeer
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drie rode tekens
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Dualiteit I
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Dubbel Torentrap
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Een verhaal
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een verhaal van Eduardo Galeano
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gele lijn
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gewicht(ig)
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grijs achterpoortje
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Groeten aan Olivier Sacks
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Groot rood – klein groen
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Het uiterste zuiden
Camiel Van Breedam
I 1962
Camiel Van Breedam
Inauguration
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klein portret van Schoonhoven
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kribbelenbuik
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Laly
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Large Lame
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Le Matin
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letter 'O' II
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Materie 3
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Mes voeux
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Ngasah
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Openbouw 5
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Otonga
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overgebleven
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piramidentrap
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Propriété pour tous pays
Camiel Van Breedam
Re-çois, la flamme, ou l'ombre
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reliëf 7
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rode lijn eronder
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Rode steun
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Rood vierkantje
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rood wit zwart
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roodlood 1
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Rose collage
Camiel Van Breedam
See see rider
Camiel Van Breedam
Snijdende lijnen
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steil (constructie 6)
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studie naar GVT 1
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studie naar GVT 2
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tegenraam
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The blue widow
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Toverstok
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Trap 2
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twee halfcirkelvormige ramen
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tweebeens (raam C) (structuur)
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van de regen...
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Vangst
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waar gaat het 'in hemelsnaam' naartoe?
Camiel Van Breedam
Weggewaaide 7
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Wit pluimpje
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witte vlag
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wortel van paddestoel en paddestoel
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XI1961
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Zeven Noten
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zeven streepjes licht
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Zonder bijkomende naad
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Zonder titel
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Zonder titel
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Zonder titel
Camiel Van Breedam
Zonder titel
Camiel Van Breedam