The visual artist Henry Heerup (1907-93) occupies a unique position within the CoBrA (Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam) art movement. This art movement took off in the aftermath of World War II. After seeing what the intellect could cause and years of distress, CoBrA went in search of creative liberty and rebelled against academism. CoBrA represented freedom, spontaneity, pure expressions, and sought out boundaries by working with new materials and new forms of collaboration with poets and sculptors.

In the vision of Heerup, art should have the potential to reach everyone. His work is deeply symbolic and inspired by primitive cultures, the art of prehistoric people, and children’s art. Due to the directness and naive simplicity of his symbols - often icons of birth, love, death and household - he was considered a folk artist. He did not pay attention to styles and trends, but worked in his own free and expressive way, and is very well known for his junk models, made from random objects. 

Lifeisart gallery calls out to artists in all disciplines to send  in their portfolio and how they want to respond to the work of Heerup. We are looking for emerging visual artists that will demonstrate a genuine interest in Heerup and the CoBrA movement. Their work should be engaged in dialogue with the values and vision Heerup represented in his experimental art. The same need for freedom and casualness that the cobra artists experienced in the late 1940s is now similarly at play in the minds of many. With the current pandemic and strict rules, there is a yearning for spontaneity, imaginative expressions and new statements that are not reminiscent of COVID-19. The gallery will select a few artists who get the opportunity to participate in a group exhibition, along the work of Heerup. 

Works can be presented on any medium/material, there are no limits. You can participate with existing work, or send in a proposal for a new project. The open call will close by 30 May 2021. After this deadline, the gallery will select some artists to come and present their work and/or ideas, after which, a final selection will be made. The final results of the selected artists will be published on www.lifeisartgallery.be and each artist will be informed by e-mail. Participation is totally free. Be sure to read the full rules and regulations for further info.

Applications must include the following:
o    Your contact information (name, address, e-mail, phone number, website/ instagram)
o    Brief informative curriculum vitae (max. 1 page)
o    Portfolio 
o    Letter of intent explaining why you are applying and how you want your work to engage with the vision of Heerup and CoBrA (max. 2 pages)

Only applications in English and Dutch will be accepted.