La Feinte [The Sham], 1982
Photography, 220 x 180 x 130 cm.
image: © M HKA, Collectie M HKA, Collectie Vlaamse Gemeenschap
Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. BK006855).
La Feinte is part of a long series of portrait photographs commonly referred to as Portraits of the Artist, which Vercruysse made between 1977 and 1984. These carefully staged photographs are printed reproductions with a circulation of only one: in this way, Vercruysse challenges the reproducibility of the image in photography. In many of the portraits of this series, including La Feinte, Vercruysse himself is the model. His measured pose and the well-considered composition refer to the conventions of traditional portraiture. Nonetheless, this is not a traditional self-portrait: the image is fractured, as if it were the reflection of a broken mirror. Moreover, the frame surrounding the portrait suggests that we are looking at a photo of a photo. This work is a sophisticated structure, in which the artist merely seems a background actor. This might be a portrait of 'the artist', but is it a portrait of Jan Vercruysse? With La Feinte, Vercruysse explores the boundary between still life and portraiture, as well as the role of the artist in his work.
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>Jan Vercruysse, Sans Titre (La Feinte), 1982
>Jan Vercruysse, Sans Titre (La Feinte), 1982
Artist
> Jan Vercruysse.
Exhibitions & Ensembles
> Exhibition: The collection III – Spring 2003, with Interventions by Gert Robijns, Wilhelm Sasnal & Bojan Fajfric. MuHKA, Antwerpen, 22 February 2003 - 18 May 2003.
> Exhibition: From Broodthaers to Braeckman – Photography in the Visual Arts in Belgium. M HKA, Antwerpen, 06 October 2016 - 05 February 2017.
> Exhibition: The collection XV – Ergens/Somewhere. With interventions by Pierre Bismuth, Koenraad Dedobbeleer & Pieter Vermeersch. MuHKA, Antwerpen, 16 June 2006 - 27 August 2006.
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> Ensemble: M HKA_DEFAULT_WORKS.
> Ensemble: Collectie Vlaamse Gemeenschap.
> Ensemble: De positie van kunst en de kunstenaar [The position of art and the artist].
> Ensemble: JAN VERCRUYSSE ENSEMBLE.
> Ensemble: NUCLEUS.
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> Ensemble: Non - Places.