Sanguine / Bloedrood

    NLENFR

    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

    Sanguine/Bloedrood. Luc Tuymans on Baroque

    Back
    (c)image: M HKA, courtesy Vanmoerkerke Collection, Oostende
    APR. 8, 1978, 1978
    On Kawara
    Series , 44 x 33cm
    liquitex on canvas, newspaper clippings

    In the exhibition Sanguine/Bloedrood, On Kawara is introduced with his date paintings, which denote a minimalist time unit yet at the same time contain a memorial element that ends in a concentric point. In the light of his early series of death portraits, the paintings that were to serve as proof of his existence seem like a daily countdown to the end as well. With the Death Masks, On Kawara already looked death in the eye at a young age.  Later – with the United States as his home base – the horrible images from his childhood seem to have prompted him to spread the message ‘I am still alive’ every day, as a sign of life force.

    Text: Hans Willemse
    Translations: Michael Meert

    Back