Writing
Life, death and decay in Berlinde De Bruyckere's 'We are all Flesh'
Berlinde Bruyckere makes sculptures that look like humans and animals suspended between life and death. The figures are often mutated, sometimes emaciated and on the verge of decomposition. People have described her work as brutal and challenging, yet some see it as comforting and poetic.
Berlinde De Bruyckere, We are all Flesh' installation view, (2012) (Courtesy the artist and ACCA) Photograph: Andrew Curtis
Originally posted: Tuesday, 10 July 2012 at 9:48am
'We are all Flesh' questions our preconceptions about the depiction of death in art.
We are all Flesh, the title of Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere’s exhibition at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Melbourne, can be read as a provocation of death or a sincere examination of the vulnerability of life. On show until July 29, We are all Flesh features two new commissions and one of Bruyckere’s rarely-seen artworks from 2007, 019.
Bruyckere makes sculptures that resemble humans and animals suspended between life and death. Often mutated, sometimes emaciated, Bruckyere's figures exist on the verge of decomposition. People have described her work as brutal and challenging, yet some see it as comforting and poetic.
Visitors to We are all Flesh are immediately confronted with two artworks that look, at first, like dead, headless horses. One consists of the bodies of two horses stitched together; the recognisable equine from collapses into its own effigy. Each is suspended above the gallery floor, one from a light pole the other is tethered by large flat industrial rubber bands and is hanging from a pole protruding from the gallery wall.
There is no evidence of violence on these objects. Bruyckere's horses may have weight, in volume and form, but they are lifeless and incomplete.
In a side gallery, another artwork consists of clusters of sticks, antlers and organic forms hanging from the walls. The Pillow, (2010) shows a human form with pale blotched skin dissolving into a lumpy cushion. Both show Bruyckere’s ability to distil death into colours and forms, providing a version that is neither shocking nor horrific.
The rear gallery houses 019 (2007). In a large, antiquated wood and glass display case wax castings of large tree branches are arranged neatly in rows above a lower shelf containing folded blankets. This piece is the least confronting. The blankets and trees suggest there is shelter from the life and death tussle evident in the other artworks.
Artists like Bruyckere, who explore the divide between life and death (and whose work often features effigies of dead animals) run the risk of being labelled sensationalist before their work has been viewed. But the beauty of her sculptures and her ability to clearly articulate ideas about existence counter these preconceptions. Viewers will find at ACCA an exhibition that successfully addresses the fragility of life through the depiction of death.
We are all Flesh is on at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Melbourne from 2 June - 29 July 2012.
Related links:
Radio National: Books and Arts Daily - Poetic or Provocative - Michael Cathcart talks to Berlinde De Bruyckere
- Tim Stone
Berlinde De Bruyckere, We are all Flesh' installation view, (2012) (Courtesy the artist and ACCA) Photograph: Andrew Curtis