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.

antwerpenbarok2018.be

Jan Vercruysse

Back

(c)image: M HKA

Les Paroles (III), 1994

Jan Vercruysse

Sculpture , 130 x 220 x 180 cm

wood, iron, paint

Les Paroles (III) [the words] is part of the series Les Paroles, which Jan Vercruysse created between 1993 and 1998. The recurring element in this series is the chair, which is placed on and next to tables and other pedestals in different compositions along with materials like bottles, marbles and glass. As the title of the series ('the words') suggests, themes like language and rhetoric, which had already been prominent in his works on paper, are now introduced in Vercruysse's sculptural work. The chairs and vertical composition of Les Paroles (III) give the impression of a pulpit or podium. However, the chair is empty. Again, Vercruysse is showing absence, this time absence of a voice, a conversation or a discourse. At the same time, though, Vercruysse creates a place with room for the (spoken) word. The empty pulpit implies the possibility of speech.

Back