[TANK EXHIBITION] Interview with Michaël Borremans

Convex/Concave: Belgian Contemporary Art
Curated by Dirk Snauwaert and Charlotte Friling
October 31st, 2019 - January 12th, 2020
Convex or concave directions - in perception, perspectives and reflections - have come to symbolize the multiple exchanges and interrelations of subjectivity. These reflections, stand-ins for the dualism in subjectivity, symbolize the opposing tendencies of an inner self vis-à-vis an outer world - of a gaze turned inwards in contemplation - and of an extrovert and engaging gaze turned outwards. This dualism, defining of the very conception of subjectivity or identity and of the self, is the lens through which this gathering of contemporary Belgian artists has been organized, since that dualism captures a general characteristic, not only of modernity, but also of the artistic endeavors, and singularity, of Belgian artists. In addition, the choice for this organizing principle finds echoes in the ways in which Chinese artists and intellectuals have tackled modes of representation and dominant paradigms and, in so doing, have transformed the convex-concave dialectics into playful or meditative attitudes to self-awareness.
About the Artist:
The seductive works of Michaël Borremans (b. 1963 in Belgium, where he lives and works) contain timeless images of inner drive and external force, of the latent pressures involved in being human. Behind a veil of stylistic perfection, heavily influenced by old masters such as Diego Velázquez, Francisco Goya or Édouard Manet, the artist simulates common rituals of interpretation and meaning while questioning the medium of painting itself.
Borremans’ drawings, paintings, and films present an evocative combination of solemn-looking characters, unusual close-ups, and unsetting still lifes. There is a sculptural but also theatrical dimensions to his works, which are at once highly staged and ambiguous, just as his complex and open-ended scenes lend themselves to conflicting moods-simultaneously nostalgic, darkly comical, disturbing, and grotesque.