De Stadscollectie Antwerpen is a lively tribute to the artists who give colour to the city of Antwerp. From emerging talent to established names, this collection highlights local creativity but also the global influence of Antwerp’s art scene. Welcome!

Stephen Willats

(c)image: M HKA
Inside The Space We Have Been Given , 1979
Photography , 4 panels, each 123.2 x 16.4 cm
photograpic prints, gouache, ink, letraset on paper

Two works made in Eindhoven in 1979 focus on public housing. Inside the Space We Have Been Given features Ms De Vogel and Ms Pannekoek, housing officers for the city’s Central Housing Administration, while Contained Reality and Hidden Pressure revolves around the huismeester (janitor) in a block of flats in Woensel. These are all trapped in their roles as service providers. Willats writes: ‘One of the most powerful mechanisms that shape the world in which we live is the low-level decision-making procedures of institutions established by society to maintain its own fabric.’