Berlinde De Bruyckere
° 1964
Lives in Ghent (BE), born in Ghent (BE).
Berlinde De Bruyckere (°1964) makes three-dimensional sculptures, installations and aquarelles. Her older work has a minimalist character. Steel, stone and glass were her materials of choice. Gradually she leaves abstract motifs to seek recourse in recognisable forms and things, introducing the blanket, malleable lead and straw as materials.
More recently, she has extended her personal iconography with striking sculptures of (stuffed) horses and giant (once-) cuddly animals. The beauty of the materials she uses always has something of the fatal in it. The blankets in her sculptures protect and suffocate, the lead roses seduce and poison, the carpet of begonias bear witness to bloom and decay. She intentionally uses familiar forms to inspire thinking in viewers, to provide them with memories. Her preference lies with materials and forms that mirror ambiguity, something characteristic of the human experience. Beneath the delicate and sometimes deceptively endearing skin of her work is a yawning abyss. Death, fear and loneliness are recurrent themes, though never disconnected from life, love and beauty. Despite the great formal diversity of her works, there is a common thread running throughout her oeuvre in terms of choice of materials, techniques and the repeating of symbols and motifs.
Aside from her three-dimensional works, the artist has also always put her ideas on paper. These works (drawings and aquarelles, or aquarelle and gouache combined on old paper or cardboard) are often preparatory material for the sculptures but are autonomous works in themselves. Berlinde De Bruyckere does not impose ‘the’ interpretation of her works. She consciously leaves the door open for diverse understandings.
Items
View all-

In Flanders Fields
Berlinde De Bruyckere, In Flanders Fields, 2000. Installation, horse skin, polyester, metal, plastic, blankets, variable dimensions.
-

Zonder titel (9)
Berlinde De Bruyckere, Zonder titel (9), 1994. Drawing, cardboard, gouache, aquarel, 390 x 270 mm.
-

Berlinde De Bruyckere - e...
Berlinde De Bruyckere, Berlinde De Bruyckere - en alles is aanééngenaaid, 2000. Book, ink, paper, 50 x 34,5 cm, loose-leaf publication, language : Dutch, English, publisher : Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, ISBN : 90-72828-3024.
-

Zonder titel (5)
Berlinde De Bruyckere, Zonder titel (5), 1994. Drawing, gouache, watercolour, cardboard, 44 x 28 cm.
Events
View all-

The Collection XXXIII – T...
07 June 2013 - 22 September 2013.
The character of a collection reflected the current priorities of the M HKA collection: the evaluation of Antwerp’s avant-garde tradition; th -

EXTRA MUROS: Visite Genk ...
02 July 2014 - 31 August 2014.
Under the umbrella term Visite, the M HKA – in collaboration with LOCUS, the hub for libraries, cultural and community centres and local cult -

Sanguine/Bloedrood. Luc T...
01 June 2018 - 16 September 2018.
During the cultural city festival Antwerp Baroque 2018. Rubens inspires, Luc Tuymans confronts the genius of Baroque masters with the vision -

When Faith Moves Mountains
17 July 2022 - 09 October 2022.
This project was set up differently from a classic exhibition; the working method was rather activist, whereby a 'coalition of the willing' s
Ensembles
View all-

M HKA_DEFAULT_PUBLICATIONS
Since the end of May 2002, the M HKA has strayed from the beaten track of museum catalogues. The M HKA does not consider a systematic thereof
-
To Speak
No description.
-

MIGRATIE | MIGRATION
Dymphna escaping over sea with her confidant Gerebernus to mainland Europe is a key example of migration, a story in which many refugees will
-
Benedenverdieping | Groun...
The works for the theme Migration that can be found on the ground floor.
