Sanguine / Bloedrood

During the cultural city festival Antwerp Baroque 2018. Rubens Inspires, the M HKA, the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, juxtaposes the spirit of the baroque masters with the vision of contemporary top artists. With the exhibition Sanguine/Bloedrood (Blood Red), curator Luc Tuymans aims to overwhelm the visitor by placing key works from the baroque of, among others, Francisco de Zurbarán and Caravaggio, in dialogue with works by classical contemporary masters, such as On Kawara and Edward Kienholz, as well as new works by contemporary stars such as Zhang Enli, Takashi Murakami, Michaël Borremans, Sigmar Polke and Tobias Rheberger.

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Jan Fabre

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image: (c) M HKA

Ik, aan het dromen [Me, Dreaming], 1978

Jan Fabre

Sculpture , table; 70x 50 x 80 cm, chair; 140 x 50 x 40 cm; figure; 160 x 50 x 100 cm, microscope; 20 x 10 x 10 cm

mannequin, plaster, clothes, smoked meat, table, chair, microscope, nails, thumbnails

This early work by Jan Fabre – an artist who is himself not uncontested, having been recently convicted in Belgium of the assault and sexual harassment of women – was first presented in a gallery which was located opposite a bar of a right-wing militia with neo-Nazi affiliations. The exhibition Fabre made was an overt response to that organisation. It was defensive, in a vital, self-assured way. At the same time, it takes a radically different orientation.
Studded in gold tacks, Jan Fabre creates his own effigy as one before a table, looking through a microscope, scrutinizing and observing the world, much as his art does. The protective shell the artist created for himself is both alluring and repellent, with its thousands of beautiful, yet sharp pins. Such an ambivalent reaction is triggered by instincts that make us human – a desire for beauty combined with self-defence that is physical, mental and emotional. But this dream suit has visible gaps, symbolizing fragility and feelings we cannot control.

It is a kind of a shell that every Ukrainian now is familiar with because of the need to deal with reality. But it’s never fully protective.

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