Panamarenko — Journey to the Stars

+++ This exhibition ran from 25 January to 7 September 2025. +++

“Sculptors and scholars, who knows anything about the stars? Who can commune with the universe?”

These words introduce Panamarenko’s very first collage from 1964, constructed using text and image fragments from scientific American journals. This very question will run as a common thread through the artist’s oeuvre for the next forty years. From the 1970s onward, Panamarenko developed theoretical models for ‘closed systems,’ conducted empirical research on (electro)magnetism, constructed various spacecraft, and, by the early 1990s, formulated his comprehensive space theory, Toymodel of Space.

In the intimate presentation Journey to the Stars Panamarenko’s fascination with the cosmos and his quest to navigate the universe was at center. For the first time, large works such as Bing of the Ferro Lusto, Flying Cigar Called Flying Tiger, and De Grote Plumbiet are displayed together, complemented by prototypes, drawings, calculations, sketches, sources of inspiration, and photographs from the archive as well as his former home and studio on Biekorfstraat. This exhibition revealed the artist’s thought process and boundless imagination. Blending artistic insight with technological experimentation, and humour with seriousness, Panamarenko invited us into his poetic universe.

This exhibition was part of the celebratory year Panamarenko85, an initiative of the Panamarenko Foundation in collaboration with Muhka, KSMKA, S.M.A.K., Port of Antwerp-Bruges, and the Scharpoord Cultural Center in Knokke-Heist.