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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Sanguine/Bloedrood. Luc Tuymans on Baroque

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(c)image: M HKA, © SABAM Belgium 2018

M (M1), 1992

Jan Vercruysse

Sculpture , 54 x 200 x 155 cm

wood, gypsum, blue glass, white pigment

We recognise a piano as a musical instrument, but the artist only shows the illusion that we make of it ourselves. The piano is not only unplayable; it is not even a piano. It is only there in a formal sense, as a psychic gestalt that confounds the viewer. The reflective blue surface that lies on top of the piano, subverting its piano-ness, reflects the surroundings of the museum and every curious gaze. Luc Tuymans points to the whitewashed purity of this silent composition, which is disturbed by the brutality of the blue glass. The piano is placed freestanding on the floor, between the vertical fire drawings of Tretiakoff and the stately Caravaggio.

Text: Hans Willemse
Translations: Michael Meert

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