Collection

Véga Gallery

  • Date 1972
  • Address Rue des Croisiers, 25 – 4000 Liège

Nestled within the base of the Chiroux-Croisiers-Kennedy complex, which was nearing completion (1960–1976) and designed by Jean Poskin and Henri Bonhomme, the Galerie Véga, founded by Manette Repriels in 1972 (opening with an exhibition of works by Sonia Delaunay), was situated beneath the bridge-like structure linking the two parts of the complex. Recognisable by its curved shopfront (shop no. 7), the venue was both discreet in relation to the built masses derived from Jean Royer’s urban planning project, and impossible to miss due to its location at the heart of the pedestrian and vehicular traffic serving Les Chiroux. The layout proposed by Charles Vandenhove – who had designed Manette and Jacques Repriels’ villa in Plainevaux ten years earlier – was both simple and practical, focusing primarily on the configuration of the exhibition space in the basement to double the floor area from 67 m2, with minor ad hoc alterations. His archives contain few documents relating to these adaptations, apart from those concerning the creation of the sign by Charles Vandenhove. The clean and powerful graphic design consisted of a square on its point, subdivided by a recessed ‘V’, bordered by two strips of blue neon tubes. The production of this sign, positioned above the entrance door, was entrusted to the Atelier d’Art Jean Rets (who was due to exhibit there in 1976). This logo, stripped back to its simplest form for maximum impact, was widely publicised through the gallery’s communications, the direction of which evolved rapidly under the influence of Fernand Spillemaeckers (Galerie MTL in Brussels), embracing minimal and conceptual art and bringing together artists such as Bernd & Hilla Becher, Joseph Beuys, Mel Bochner, Marcel Broodthaers, Pol Bury, André Cadere, Jacques Charlier, Patrick Corillon, Jo Delahaut, Peter Downsbrough, Gilbert & George, Dan Graham, Simon Hantaï, Barbara & Michael Leisgen, Sol LeWitt, Jacques-Louis Nyst, Dennis Oppenheim, Panamarenko, Gérard Titus-Carmel and Léon Wuidar. A photograph of ‘Mirror Window Corner Piece’, an installation by Dan Graham specifically arranged in 1976, appeared three years later on the cover of Benjamin H.D. Buchloh’s book, Dan Graham • Video – Architecture – Television.

  • Description of the collection

    Two plans, a few letters and photographs.
  • Bibliography

    Exhibition catalogue for « Défis, la galerie Véga en Wallonie », Brussels, Centre d’Art Contemporain, 20 September to 27 October 2001, with texts by Jean Claude Lahaut (J. Cl. Lahaut, Mars 1975, Liège, Palais des Congrès, 1975 – Festival des Futurs), Jacques Charlier and Patrick Corillon.

    Raymond Balau, \ MIRROR WINDOW CORNER PIECE \, in L’Art Même # 98 (In Situ), janvier 2026, pp. 30-32.
  • AUTHOR AND DATE OF THE ENTRY Raymond Balau, 2025