The Art of Corporeal Experience: Berlinde De Bruyckere Puts Flanders on the Map

Berlinde De Bruyckere (°1964) works and lives in Belgium’s Flemish territories, where she is highly valued and well known. De Bruyckere has developed a consistent oeuvre on thematics such as vulnerability, transience and solitude. Deformed bodies of human beings and animals are dominant pictorial motifs in her work. Inspiration is drawn from cultural forms of expression in which Flemish culture in Belgium excels such as literature, film and dance. A universal recognizability is created by the visual language’s expressionism and self-evident character. With this, the artist follows in the footsteps of the old Flemish masters. Interest from abroad in the work of De Bruyckere and Flemish culture in general is continuously growing. Tilburg, Istanbul, Melbourne and Peking have already embraced it and London is next in line. De Bruyckere’s exhibition… in the Venice Biennale …is Flanders’s moment to establish its rich culture’s name and fame internationally. The Biennale’s visitors will be struck by an enduring, deeply humanitarian commitment within Flemish culture and a very powerful solo performance. Finally, all art is subjected to the communitarian conflict in Belgium – especially the art works that speak from an autonomous position. Is there such thing as an art form that speaks the language of the same manipulation?