As the Garofalo Fellow for 2023-2024, Sint-Lucas alumnus Cédric Van Parys has investigated and transformed the meaning of billboard infrastructures as representative monuments of American culture by juxtaposing and reconciling word, image and object.
There are plenty of surveys of America littered with commerce and ads, but this is not a project about advertisement. Van Parys is interested in the effect of these steel monopole structures on the people and the (local) urban environments. The billboard’s monetized side faces the highway and is directed mainly to drivers and passengers. But from every other viewpoint, we see a massive structure that removes part of the sky. Documenting those hyper-functional backsides reveals a monumental sacredness that resembles ancientmonuments such as Native American Totem Poles, Nigerian Shango staffs, or Inuit Inukshuk stone landmarks—all are markers of space.
Initiated by the Architecture and Design Open Archive and designed by Lu Liang, this publication is a continuation of Cédric Van Parys’ artistic research during his 2023–24 Garofalo Fellowship at UIC. The publication is both an artist book and a research document. An essay by Sevie Tsampalla (Sevie Tsampalla) and a conversation with Paul Preissner generate new insights and meanings.
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- On November 13, 2025, Cédric’s exhibition “Odysseys” with sculptures, photography and installations opens at the KBK gallery in Brussels.