The exhibitions Urgent Conversations: Athens–Antwerp and Urgent Conversations: Antwerp – Athens are a collaboration between EMST and M HKA, a theoretical and visual dialogue, based on works from the collections of both museums, which includes more than 70 works structured in 22 topics.   

28.04.2017 - 07.01.2018        

M HKA, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen - Leuvenstraat 32, 2000 Antwerpen

EMST, National Museum of Contemporary Art - Kallirrois Avenue & Amvr. Frantzi Str., Athens 11743

Paul De Vree

(c)image: M HKA
A Rose, 1964-1965
Print , 490 x 490 mm
ink, paper

A Rose is a poem in which the condensed use of language has led to visual possibilities for the text, with the space creating the structure. Although the musicality of the text is still decisive De Vree classified it as concrete poetry because the poem’s structure is also visually contained in the typographical extension. In 1965 the poem was enlarged on a silk-screen print and published by Hansjörg Mayer in the anthology ‘international concrete poetry’. [*A Rose*](http://ubumexico.centro.org.mx/sound/devree_paul/Devree-Paul_Eem-Rpps-a-Rpse.mp3) was also set to sound and released as a record by Henri Chopin in OU, his publication about sound poetry. The poem exists in Dutch and English versions and both were set to sound, in which Gertrude Steins’ classic, non-symbolic statement ‘a rose is a rose is a rose’ still seems to apply, irrespective of language or medium. De Vree’s two themes of love and the ephemeral are united in A Rose: ‘rose’ is an anagram of ‘eros’ and when it is set to sound, multiple repetition and the superimposition of the sentence ‘a rose is’ in the mix of sounds evokes the word ‘erosie’ (erosion).