Sanguine / Bloedrood

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    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

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    (c)image: M HKA
    9 ontwerpen voor het omslag van een tijdschrift in 8+1 afleveringen, 1992
    Jan Vercruysse
    Print
    paper

    *9 designs for the cover of a magazine in 8 + 1 installments* is a series of graphics consisting of nine prints, all named after a well-known woman. Some are mythological (Aphrodite, Atalanta, Helen, Phryne), some biblical (Judith), some classic-historical (Cleopatra), some literary-historic (Beatrice) and some kabbalistic (Lilith). They are all strong personalities who in their own way shaped the course of history, and who are popular subjects within the history of art. Last in row is Lewis Carroll's Alice. Her cover design sits lower on the wall than those of the illustrious women who precede her. Characteristically for Vercruysse's oeuvre, central to *8+1* appear to be its sheer formal qualities. Apart from the image of the designs themselves, which vary in lay-out and paper type depending on the name in question, the series does not contain clues for further interpretation. Vercruysse literally presents the empty shell of a potential channel of communication. As with his other printed works, like his series of [*Portraits of the Artist*](http://ensembles.mhka.be/items/la-feinte), he stimulates our imagination without satisfying our curiosity. It is perhaps for this reason that Alice gets a special treatment: her story is about embracing uncertainties and riddles, without necessarily reaching definitive answers.

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