Trouble Spot Painting

Jan 7

How improbable is painting as a medium at the end of the twentieth century? The painting is no longer central in a world that increasingly focuses on the one-sided image, incorporated by the mass media. The research into what painting entails or means today is extremely complex and fraught. Luc Tuymans and Narcisse Tordoir, two Antwerp painters with completely different visions of their medium, have enjoyed plenty of interest at home and abroad for some time now. From their unruly belief in painting, they set up an idiosyncratic exhibition together with sixty fellow artists.

The result is a quest in which they approach the question of the meaning of the pictorial image in a subjective, experiential way. Tuymans' artistic quest mainly focuses on conceptualizing the image within two-dimensional space. In terms of content, he also questions the specific intention or meaning of the painted image. Narcisse Tordoir, on the other hand, breaks with the plane; his works have a complex structure and appear immediately, almost physically. To this end he uses all available means to visualize in time and space. According to Tordoir, painting is an open, experimental activity that, in its multitude, crosses all aspects of tangible reality.

The exhibition ran in collaboration with the NICC and with Antwerp Open vzw as part of the Van Dyck year, and was realized with the support of the Mondriaan Foundation, Stimulation Fund for visual arts, design and museum activities.

Artists: Anne Daems, René Daniels, Koenraad Dedobbeleer, Raoul De Keyser, Marlene Dumas, Jan Andriesse, Carla Arocha, John Baldessari, Samuel Beckett, Franck Bragigand, David Claerbout, John Currin, Gijs Frieling, Meschac Gaba, Gérard Gasiorowski, Vincent Geyskens , Joris Ghekiere, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Arturo Herrera, Ann Veronica Janssens, Elsworth Kelly, Yves Klein, Jukka Korkeila, Bertrand Lavier, Kerry James Marshall, Guy Mees, Paul Morrison, David Neirings, Elske Neus, Chris Ofili, Hélio Oiticica, Hans Op de Beeck, Bruno Perramant, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Avery Preesman, Michael Raedecker, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Perry Roberts, Ugo Rondinone, Robert Ryman, Dierk Schmidt, Jan Schuil, Boy & Erik Stappaerts, Berend Strik, Walter Swennen, Narcisse Tordoir, Joëlle Tuerlinckx, Luc Tuymans, Jan Van Imschoot, Herman Van Ingelgem, Philippe Van Snick, Xavier Veilhan, Boy Villevoye, Gert Verhoeven, Sophie Von Hellermann, Andy Warhol, Lawrence Weiner, Marthe Wéry.

Together with the artists/curators Luc Tuymans and Narcisse Tordoir, we were responsible for the development of this large-scale exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp. This responsibility involved the elaboration of the curatorial strategy, the direct communication with participating artists, galleries, collector’s and museums, loan & transport administration, the coordination of the scenography and communication and the editing of the catalogue.

Download here the article on Trouble Spot Painting, published (in Dutch) in De Witte Raaf, edition 80, July-August 1999

Download here the article on Trouble Spot Painting in Frieze Magazine N° 50