Artist Jan De Cock forced to sell Brussels Art Institute

Flemish artist Jan De Cock has listed his Brussels Art Institute (BAI), which is also home to his own studio, up for sale after the loss of a subsidy and bank demands for repayment of a loan. The move could see 400 students of the Sint-Lukas School of Arts, who are using the BAI while their school in Schaarbeek is being renovated, with no facilities.

De Cock created the BAI in the mid-1990s in an old paper factory in Anderlecht, close to Brussels South Station. He invested €500,000 of his own money and took a loan to pay for extra classrooms and a jazz bar. The project narrowly missed being approved for a subsidy of €900,000 this year, while lender KBC called in the million-euro loan.

The listing on Immoweb describes the property as having 18 bedrooms and a living area of 3,303 square metres. It also includes an art studio, exhibition space, offices, archives, a kitchen, museum and library. The asking price is €3.4 million.

De Cock, 39, is one of Belgium’s best-known artists internationally. He was the second Belgian artist to ever have a solo exhibition at London’s Tate Modern and the only living Belgian to have a solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. His work often takes the form of site-specific installations that blur the boundaries between art and architecture.

“I’ve tried everything to avoid this sale,” De Cock told brusselnieuws.be. “But even an artist like me, with all the contacts I have in the sector, can’t make it work. This is the beginning of a major crisis in the sector of culture and education.”

The artist said that he hopes to find a buyer who will leave everything as it is, “or even invest in an elite school for Belgium and the surrounding area. But there is a real chance that the buyer will want to demolish everything, that it will be someone who doesn’t believe in the combination of art and education”.

De Cock has written to Flemish minister-president Geert Bourgeois as well as culture and youth minister Sven Gatz and education minister Hilde Crevits, asking for their help in finding alternative accommodation for the Sint-Lukas students. The renovations of Sint-Lukas are due to be completed next year.

Photo courtesy Jan De Cock/Immoweb