S.M.A.K. Citadelpark B-9000 Gent

  • 001.candice breitz KingComposite
    Title : 001.candice breitz KingComposite
  • 001.ed templeton Brian, Dortmund 1999, C print photograph
    Title : 001.ed templeton Brian, Dortmund 1999, C print photograph
  • 002.candice breitz Adlai2a
    Title : 002.candice breitz Adlai2a
  • 002.ed templeton Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 02
    Title : 002.ed templeton Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 02
  • 003.candice breitz Andrew3a
    Title : 003.candice breitz Andrew3a
  • 003.ed templeton Cemetery Of Reason, 2008, Acrylic on Wood
    Title : 003.ed templeton Cemetery Of Reason, 2008, Acrylic on Wood
  • 004.candice breitz Cey1a
    Title : 004.candice breitz Cey1a
  • 004.ed templeton Deanna, London, Gelatin Silver Print with artwork
    Title : 004.ed templeton Deanna, London, Gelatin Silver Print with artwork
  • 005.candice breitz Claudia3a
    Title : 005.candice breitz Claudia3a
  • 005.ed templeton Kids Kiss, Encinitas California, 1996 part of teen kissers
    Title : 005.ed templeton Kids Kiss, Encinitas California, 1996 part of teen kissers
  • 006.Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 03
    Title : 006.Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 03
  • 006.candice breitz CompositeCey
    Title : 006.candice breitz CompositeCey
  • 007.candice breitz CompositeGina
    Title : 007.candice breitz CompositeGina
  • 007.ed templeton Portrait of Deanna (Books) Acrylic on Canvas, 2008 4x4 ft.
    Title : 007.ed templeton Portrait of Deanna (Books) Acrylic on Canvas, 2008 4x4 ft.
  • 008.candice breitz CompositeTanja
    Title : 008.candice breitz CompositeTanja
  • 008.ed templeton Portrait of Mike Mills, Acrylic on Panel, 2008
    Title : 008.ed templeton Portrait of Mike Mills, Acrylic on Panel, 2008
  • 009.Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 04
    Title : 009.Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 04
  • 009.candice breitz HER020109 010
    Title : 009.candice breitz HER020109 010
  • 009.candice breitz QueenWhiteCubeWhite
    Title : 009.candice breitz QueenWhiteCubeWhite
  • 010.Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 05
    Title : 010.Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 05
  • 010.candice breitz Her Still 01d
    Title : 010.candice breitz Her Still 01d
  • 010.candice breitz1Mayday2
    Title : 010.candice breitz1Mayday2
  • 011.Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 07
    Title : 011.Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 07
  • 011.candice breitz HIM020109 002
    Title : 011.candice breitz HIM020109 002
  • 011.candice breitz20Paolo4
    Title : 011.candice breitz20Paolo4
  • 012.Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 08
    Title : 012.Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 08
  • 012.candice breitz HIM020109 002
    Title : 012.candice breitz HIM020109 002
  • 012.candice breitz Him Still 06b
    Title : 012.candice breitz Him Still 06b
  • 013.Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 10
    Title : 013.Ed Templeton S.M.A.K photo by Dirk Pauwels 10
  • 013.candice breitz Him Still 06b
    Title : 013.candice breitz Him Still 06b


Press Release


The Cemetery of Reason is conceived as a mid-career retrospective of the American artist Ed Templeton (b. 1972). The artist will be assembling more than twelve hundred photos, paintings and sculptures he has produced over the last fifteen years. The exhibition tells the story of a pro skateboarder, a photographer, a draftsman and a painter.


Ed Templeton’s work cannot easily be categorised. He was brought up in Orange County, a suburb of Los Angeles, and spent his youth in a world of skateboarding and punk music. While still very young he became a professional skateboarder and at the age of 21 set up his Toy Machine Bloodsucking Skateboard Company.


From an early age he was passionate about drawing and painting and was enormously influenced by the work of Egon Schiele, Balthus and David Hockney. Photography has also always been a constant interest. He uses an analogue camera and still prints the images traditionally. In the same way as he was never able to choose between skateboarding and being an artist - they fuel each other ‘ nor has he ever been able to limit himself to one particular medium. Photos, paintings and sculptures complement each other, and are of equal worth, without hierarchy.


Templeton often writes on his drawings, photos and paintings by means of anecdotes, feelings and ideas that give a new, more profound interpretation to the images. When assembled in an exhibition, these images are deployed as parts of a broader story, but without losing their artistic independence.


Templeton mainly documents his own life and that of the people around him. He produces portraits of himself and his wife and muse Deanna, friends, family and the many people he meets on his skateboard tours. The boys and girls who hang around near a skate park, family gatherings in hometown L.A., the boredom of touring, the bloody falls, the late-night parties and the intimate encounters with his wife in anonymous hotel rooms.


Being on the road also inspires Templeton’s traditional street photography. His career as a pro skateboarder means he spends a lot of time with youngsters who are at an uncertain phase of discovery in their lives. With dreams, hope, worries, the formation of identity and the presentation of the self to the fore. Templeton is ‘one of them’, a skateboard legend and an ‘example’. This gives him the opportunity to come very close to the world they live in and to record it. He depicts their sexuality, fears, aggression, joy and problems but does not judge them. Although his photo installations and paintings are often highly autobiographical, Templeton doesn’t aim to deal with his own difficult youth. On the contrary, he wants to create openness and offer insights and opportunities to those who want to grasp them.

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