Hortus/Corpus

For four months, the museum is transformed into the paradise of Belgian artist Jan Fabre. His sculptures are everywhere, in the Quist wing, among the permanent presentation in the Van de Velde wing, on the terrace of the museum restaurant, in the sculpture garden and even on the roof. There, visitors are greeted by The man who measures the clouds. For Fabre, the shining bronze sculpture represents ‘that which an artist seeks: balancing on the border between the possible and the impossible’.

The emphasis of the exhibition is on the human body ‘on the corporeal’ and the resilience it possesses. Fabre longs for absolute beauty, which he believes can be found in a harmony between humankind and nature. The insect, the human being, the angel and the colour blue play an important role in his work. These are the elements that he ‘constantly reorganizes to show us his thoughts and dreams about life and death, beauty and disgust, vulnerability and violence, transience and eternity’.

The work Fountain of the world fills the entire sculpture room in the Van de Velde wing. The adjacent spaces contain 10 drawings of the same name, a tapestry, brain models, brain drawings and the film Is the brain the most sexy part of the body?, which is acquired by the museum. Both works deal with the importance of research and the relationship between science and art. Fabre sees ‘creativity’ as the most important human trait. Fountain can be regarded as an ode to the power of the artist’s creative potential.

Thanks to a generous gesture from the artist, the museum can give a place in the sculpture garden to a series of eight Chapters. The long row of bronze heads on stone pedestals are self-portraits in a state of metamorphosis. The animal elements that are fused into the faces symbolize the characteristics that people normally hide inside their heads. Jan Fabre does not hide, he considers himself a ‘beautiful animal’.

In addition, several important works are acquired from the 1970s and 80s, his ‘blue’ period, when he worked mainly with Bic ink, the colour of the eternally recurring moment when night turns into day and life awakens: the blue hour.