Catalogue Raisonnable

Catalogue Raisonnable, the first survey publication of Jef Geys’ work, after a project found in Geys’ archive, containing the numbers, titles, and images of his famous List of Works. Through access to the artist’s archive, close cooperation with Geys’ next of kin, and thorough art-historical research, this publication and exhibition project offers a rare opportunity for understanding and appreciating Jef Geys' multifaceted practice.Edited by Charlotte Friling and assisted by Oriana Lemmens and Kaat Obbels.

From the early 1960s, Jef Geys compiled an archive, with the titles of everything he considered part of his artistic practice on his ‘List of Works’ serving as its index. With a total of 844 entries, the List of Works opens with photographs and drawings from Geys’ school days at the Brothers of Charity. A wide range of creative projects follow, spanning six decades of artistic practice. Avant-garde drawings and paintings, lacquered puppets, sensual fruit reliefs, performances and actions, conceptual photography, ‘open’ texts, and instructional films all make the list. But so do Geys’ observations of a first-time cyclist, his botanical studies for self-medication, his novel methods of teaching his students, as well as the local community meetings for direct democracy he helps organising. Jef Geys’ List of Works clearly demonstrates his versatility and broader interests as an artist, and as a precursor of interdisciplinary practice by integrating other disciplines such as biology, architecture, sociology, and anthropology within visual arts.

Geys defied tradition, deconstructed language, and championed open cultural exchange, establishing him in many ways as a true pioneer.