Berlinde De Bruyckere

Three Sculptures

17 November - 22 December 2012

Zürich

Following her critically-acclaimed exhibition at De Pont Museum of Contemporary Art in the Netherlands, Berlinde De Bruyckere will present three new sculptures – 'Actaeon, 2011 – 2012', 'Liggende I, 2011 – 2012' and 'Liggende II, 2011 – 2012' – at Hauser & Wirth Zürich from 17 November.

De Bruyckere's 'Actaeon, 2011 – 2012' takes its inspiration from Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'. The sprawling sculpture summons the fate of the great hunter, Actæon, who was turned into a stag by the Goddess Diana before swiftly being torn to death by his own hounds.

'Actaeon, 2011 – 2012' is a tangle of antlers upon a low wooden plinth. Their sharp angularity is contrasted by the worn cotton cloths, which cradle the work in an attempt to add a sense of comfort and support. Once symbols of strength, power and sexuality, they are now disembodied and vulnerable, assembled in a way that recalls a pile of kindling and firewood waiting to be burned.

'Liggende I, 2011 – 2012' and 'Liggende II, 2011 – 2012' are two lying figures sculpted from wax. Their translucent skin is marked with the features of a living being, such as veins and wrinkles in the skin; however, they are headless with distorted, emaciated or missing limbs. Branches and antlers grow into and out of the figures in a symbiotic relationship that is both an extension of their incomplete bodies and a parasite, inflicting pain and suffering on their debilitated host.

Selected images

Actaeon

2012

Liggende I

2012

Liggende II

2012

Installation views

About the Artist

Berlinde De Bruyckere

Working with casts made of wax, animal skins, hair, textiles, metal and wood, Berlinde De Bruyckere renders haunting distortions of organic forms. The vulnerability and fragility of man, the suffering body—both human and animal—and the overwhelming power of nature are some of the core motifs of De Bruyckere’s oeuvre.

Born in Ghent, Belgium in 1964, where she currently lives and works, De Bruyckere is profoundly influenced by traditions of the Flemish Renaissance. Drawing from the legacies of the European Old Masters and Christian iconography, as well as mythology and cultural lore, De Bruyckere layers existing histories with new narratives suggested by current events to create a psychological terrain of pathos, tenderness and unease. The dualities of love and suffering, danger and protection, life and death and the human need for understanding are the universal themes De Bruyckere has been dealing with since the beginning of her career. ‘I want to show how helpless a body can be,’ De Bruyckere has said. ‘Which is nothing you have to be afraid of—it can be something beautiful.’