Exil de peintre, an artists' book with 64 etchings and a text by Belgian artist Philippe Vandenberg.

During one year, Philippe Vandenberg (°1952, Ghent) worked on this series of etchings, which, together with a simultaneously produced text, were bound into a book. The etchings were produced from December 2002 to November 2003. Techniques used include softground etching, hardground etching, whiteground aquatint, sugar lift aquatint and others.
The contact with graphic techniques gave a new direction to his work. Motifs such as 'crucifixion' and the existential questioning of the place of man and the artist in this world are still prominent, but the visual language has become less tormented, more purified and refined. The anecdotal in his earlier work has now given way to configurations of purely abstract line work, with references to Louise Bourgeois, Jürgen Partenheimer, Barnett Newman and others.
The etchings were produced from December 2002 to November 2003 in Henri Hemelsoet's studio. Rein Ergo was responsible for the styling and the unique design.

Exil de peintre was a creation of Philipe Vandenberg, Henri Hemelsoet and Rein Ergo. The Ergo Pers studio is located on the Muinkkaai in Ghent, and as if by coincidence, it is adjacent to the former studio of Philippe Vandenberg in the Hofstraat.

The etchings were done directly by the artist at the studio of Henrie Hemelsoet in Ghent.

Exil de peintre, is published in a limited edition of 33 copies.
Each book includes two volumes : a first volume with 53 etchings an an additional second volume with a suite of 11 echings, signed and numbered by Philippe Vandenberg.
Each book is signed by the artist in the colophon.

The entire edition is printed on Hahnemühle 150 g. Size 28 x 36 cms.

The book is dedicated to his three children.

Text

Philippe Vandenberg, La lettre au nègre, Exil de peintre, Ergo Pers, Ghent, 2003.
Brief aan de neger, translated from the French by Joost Beerten.

[Listen to the voice of François Beuckelaers in La lettre au nègre,( Les frères Zarakoff, 2004)

Letter to the Nigger, published in Philippe Vandenberg “L’important c’est le kamikaze”: Œuvre 2000-2006, 143-151. Charleville-Mézières: Musée Arthur Rimbaud; Ghent: On-Line, 2006.