M HKA Ensembles

“Works in the M HKA collection are often large and have a presence without being especially tangible.” – Narcisse Tordoir

For the third section, Narcisse Tordoir has made a highly individual choice of works from the M HKA collection, to reconstruct the atmosphere in Tiepolo’s prints. They link up with Tiepolo’s themes both in form and content.

Didier Vermeiren’s Untitled (1988) and Sculpture (1982) are reminiscent of the desolate landscapes of Tiepolo’s etchings. The pedestals and sculptures look austere and minimal. In contrast to its role in classical sculpture, the pedestal is here no longer relevant. Its stands on its own on the floor without supporting anything and thereby itself becomes the sculpture. These pedestals are evidence of an examination of the way an artist is able to appropriate historical elements, just as Tordoir did with Tiepolo’s work. Also Zonder titel [Untitled] (1997) by Ann Veronica Janssens contributes to sketching this deserted landscape. Her work is waiting for ‘an Oriental’, a spectator with whom to establish a relationship. You are permitted to enter the work cautiously and to interact with it, exploring its boundaries. By taking the above elements out of their context and putting them into a new situation – the museum – we view the world in a different way.

The symbolic language in Richard Venlet’s Untitled (1996) leads us to take a different view of the room and the works of art. Depending on how the viewer experiences the work, it may delineate or accentuate. By contrast, the clear language in Walter Swennen’s Zij die hier zijn zijn van hier (2006) leaves no room for interpretation, and ‘the Oriental’ is never far off.

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