BY SYLVIE DE WEZE
With the diptych exhibition‘Faces Then & Faces Now’ the BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels confronts Renaissance portraiture in the Low Countries with the photographic portrait in Europa since 1990. The result is an intriguing (re)discovery of ancient masterpieces and top photographers. BOZAR has a tradition of juxtaposing today’s art with that of yesterday, but with this exhibition BOZAR has really surpassed itself.
© Denis Darzacq, Group 01, Act 50, 2010. Digital C-print, 130 x 100 cm, edition of 8 © Denis Darzacq
‘Faces Now’ is the first exhibition that looks back on the interesting developments, which European portrait photography has experienced since 1989. It brings together the work of 32 photographers and visual artists who in the past 25 years have been decisive figures in innovation in the realm of European portrait photography. Alongside big names such as Anton Corbijn, Rineke Dijkstra, Boris Mikhailov, Thomas Ruff, Juergen Teller and Sergey Bratkov, less well known – but influential – photographers are also part of the selection. The exhibition demonstrates the power, wealth and diversity of contemporary European photography and makes links with the Renaissance tradition – the origin of the portrait genre.
One of the most poignant photographs in the exhibition is the death portrait of Belgian art curator Jan Hoet, made by Stephan Vanfleteren. Post-mortem photography, the practice of photographing the recently deceased, was a normal part of American and European culture in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Today, the practice is rare. With this portrait Vanfleteren places himself within the tradition of the vanitas, especially associated with still life painting in Flanders and the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th century. In a television interview Vanfleteren remarks revealingly: “I often feel more kinship with the classical painters of 300 years ago than with my contemporary colleagues.”
© Beat Streuli, Bruxelles 05/06, 2007, C-print, 125 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist and Galerie Conrads, Dusseldorf
‘Faces Now’ scrutinises the stratified and diverse identity of European citizens. The curators chose 1990 as a benchmark because the year signalled the start of a trend in the portrait genre whereby the individual – famous or anonymous – and his or her social and cultural identity occupies centre stage. “In the 90s, we saw a rising number of photographers turning their objective towards the everyday citizen and devote artistic portraits to ‘ordinary’ people in the style of those usually traditionally reserved for the powerful, with a kind of humanist expression.” This includes the likes of Beat Streuli and Luc Delahaye who photograph people on the street without their knowledge. “I see an interesting parallel with the Renaissance, when consideration for the individual reappeared in society. This focus on the individual is clearly visible in ‘Faces Then’,” explains Frits Gierstberg, curator of ‘Faces Now’, in Agenda Magazine.
© Sergey Bratkov, Sonya, from the series ‘KIDS’, 2000, Colour photo, 40 x 27 cm, Courtesy Regina Gallery
Spread over seven halls and as much themes, the exhibition zooms in on opposites such as private versus public, formal versus informal and tradition and renewal. It’s an interesting way of grouping and confronting very different series of portraits. It is also a pleasant rediscovery of the work of famous photographers and that of lesser-known names.
© Luc Delahaye, Untitled, – from the series ‘L’autre’, 1995-1997, Gelatin silver print, 22 cm x 16,8 cm, Courtesy the artist & Galerie (above right)
© Riet Breukel (‘Mother’), Amsterdam, 1997. © Koos Breukel (under left)
Selected photographers include: Tina Barney, Sergey Bratkov, Koos Breukel, Clegg & Guttmann, Anton Corbijn, Christian Courrèges, Denis Darzacq, Luc Delahaye, Rineke Dijkstra, Jitka Hanzlová, Konstantinos Ignatiadis, Alberto García-Alix, Stratos Kalafatis, Boris Mikhailov, Nikos Markou, Hellen van Meene, Jorge Molder, Lucia Nimcova, Adam Pańczuk, Dita Pepe, Anders Petersen, Paola De Pietri, Jorma Puranen, Thomas Ruff, Clare Strand, Beat Streuli, Thomas Struth, Juergen Teller, Ari Versluis & Ellie Uyttenbroek, Stephan Vanfleteren and Manfred Willmann.
INFO
Bozar, Brussel
06.02.2015 - 17.05.2015