Michaël Borremans: a confrontation at the zoo

Abstract

Like bad news landing at a formal dinner, the works by Michaël Borremans menace the expectations of a perfect setting. His solo exhibition at Voorlinden, A Confrontation at the Zoo, composed of Borremans' hand-selected paintings from the last 20 years, exemplifies the intuitive and poetic relationship between his different works. Michaël Borremans is an artist fluent in centuries-old technical skill, yet his works speak their own contemporary language. His oeuvre spans drawing, sculpture, film, and photography, but he is best-known for his oil-on-canvas paintings, which bristle with tension between historical medium and conceptual immediacy. A trademark of Borremans's work is his deadpan penchant for the absurd and theatrical. His subjects often appear in homemade costumes, dressed as if for the stage or ritual. Yet their expressions betray no irony or intent. In his paintings, the artist represses obvious displays of emotion, whether surprise or distress, in strange compositions deserving of them. Borremans's reoccurring subject is the dark (and darkly funny) mess of human experience and possibility. This mess unites with the clinical precision and elegance of the artist's craft, fine-tuned to the exhilarating mood of each painting.