At the end of 2010 I was approached by Kris Peeters from Leuvenement vzw (an organisation in and of the city of Leuven setting up all kinds of events) for advice about an open-air exhibition they yearly organise in the Botanical Garden of Leuven. This is the oldest of such gardens in Belgium and a stunningly beautiful location. For the event’s last edition, I suggested to invite only one artist instead of putting on a group show, and I proposed artist Tinka Pittoors (born 1977 in Brasschaat). Leuvenement agreed and asked me to curate the exhibition.

The work of Tinka Pittoors discloses a fascination for the friction points between dichotomies such as nature versus culture, artificial versus natural, structure versus chaos and so on. Mostly her sculptures and installation are colourful assemblages of found objects and self-assembled components. Her drawings and paintings lay bare a similar attitude towards form and content. In Leuven’s Botanical Garden she exhibited mostly new works and installations, among which a large-scale wall drawing in the Orangerie building, as well as her film “Urbicide – Plastic Terrritory” from 2010. Concurrently, Galerie Cypres in Leuven showed a collection of her paintings and drawings.

Because of this extraordinary place to work in, the enthusiasm of Tinka herself and thanks to the efforts and support of all the people involved – the crew of Leuvenement, the City of Leuven, the staff and workers of the Botanical Garden and so on – the result was greatly satisfying.