Bozar presents a major solo exhibition of Berlinde De Bruyckere for this first time

Berlinde De Bruyckere
​Khorós
​21.02.25 → 31.08.25 ​
​Save the date press preview: Thu 20 February at 11:00 am

Bozar presents a major solo exhibition of Berlinde De Bruyckere (b. 1964, Ghent) for the first time.

The work of this Belgian artist focuses on the human condition in all its duality: suffering and love, sorrow and comfort, life and death. In Khorós, De Bruyckere presents over 50 works of the past 25 years, including new creations, in dialogue with works by both historical and contemporary artists, from Lucas Cranach to Pier Paolo Pasolini and Patti Smith.

De Bruyckere creates compelling sculptures using unconventional materials such as wax, animal skins, hair, textiles and lead. Materiality plays a significant role in her work, with the body and its metamorphosis being a constant theme.

Since the early stages of her artistic career in the late 1980s, De Bruyckere has focused on the human condition. Universal themes as suffering and vulnerability, the lust for life and fear of death, beauty and transience, hope and desire are ever-present. De Bruyckere's art demonstrates a deep empathy for humanity and creates psychological terrain of pathos, tenderness and unease.

De Bruyckere draws on various sources of inspiration: Christian iconography, classical mythology, the works of the Flemish masters and cultural lore. She introduces these influences into a contemporary context: the violence that surrounds us, the images of human suffering on a global scale, but also the beauty and hope for change.

For Bozar, De Bruyckere creates an exhibition as a mind map conceived specifically for the historic halls designed by Victor Horta, and will showcase both monumental sculptures and installations, as well as smaller worlds and works on paper, including both older and more recent pieces.

The exhibition, covering more than 1.000 m2, marks the beginning of a new series of exhibitions at Bozar: 'Conversation Pieces', in which artists’ work is presented in dialogue as a way to offer new perspectives on their practice. The mind map De Bruyckere creates for Brussels will present various artistic conversations with diverse artists, including Lucas Granach, Peter Buggenhout and Patti Smith.

Catalogue

A hardcover catalogue will be published to accompany the exhibition, compiled by the artist and published by Bozar Books. The book will feature an English essay by American curator Gary Carrion-Murayari, along with extensive mvisual material. The graphic design will be by the duo Casier/Fieuws.

Practical

Berlinde De Bruyckere
​Khorós
​21.02.25 → 31.08.25 ​
​Save the date press preview: Thu 20 February at 11:00 am
​​
​Centre for Fine Arts / Bozar
​Ravensteinstreet 23, 1000 Brussels
​​
​Press contact
​Club Paradis
​Micha Pycke
​+32 (0)486 680 070
​micha@clubparadis.be

Press kit:

Press Images (download here)

Portrait of Berlinde De Bruyckere 2024 © Mirjam DevriendtBerlinde De Bruyckere, Invisible Love, 2011 (detail), wax, wood, horse hair leather, rope, textile, iron, epoxy, Private collection Buggenhout, Ghent © Mirjam Devriendt

Berlinde De Bruyckere, Invisible beauty, 2011, wax, wood, horse hair, leather, iron, epoxy private Collection, Ghent, © Mirjam DevriendtBerlinde De Bruyckere, Lelie, 2017, pencil on paper, Courtesy of the artist © Mirjam Devriendt

Berlinde De Bruyckere, Lost V, 2021-2022, 2021-2022, horse skin, marble, textile, iron, epoxy, courtesy of the artist © Mirjam Devriendt

Berlinde De Bruyckere, Lost V, 2021-2022, 2021-2022, horse skin, marble, textile, iron, epoxy, courtesy of the artist © Mirjam DevriendtBerlinde De Bruyckere, Courtyard Tales II, 2017-2018, blankets, wood, polyurethane, epoxy, Courtesy of the artist & Hauser & Wirth © Mirjam Devriendt

About Berlinde De Bruyckere

Berlinde De Bruyckere was born in Ghent, Belgium, in 1964, where she currently lives and works. Since her first exhibition in the mid-1980s, De Bruyckere’s sculptures and drawings have been the subject of numerous exhibitions in major institutions worldwide. Her recent exhibitions include City of Refuge III, Collateral Event of the 60th Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy (2024); No Life Lost, Artipelag, Stockholm, Sweden (2024); Crossing a Bridge on Fire, Museum of Contemporary Art, MAC/CCB, Lisbon, Portugal (2023); City of Refuge II, Diözesanmuseum, Freising, Germany (2023); City of Refuge I, La Commanderie de Peyrassol, Flassans-sur-Issole, France (2023); PEL / Becoming the Figure, Arp Museum, Remagen, Germany (2022); Plunder / Ekphrasis, MO.CO., Montpellier, France (2022); Engelenkeel, Bonnefanten, Maastricht, Netherlands (2021); Aletheia, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy (2019); Il Mantello (5x5x5 event for Manifesta 12), Santa Venera Church, Palermo, Sicily (2018); Berlinde De Bruyckere, Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland (2018); Embalmed, Kunsthal Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark (2017); Suture, Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria (2016); No Life Lost, Hauser & Wirth New York, New York, USA (2016); Penthesilea, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg, France (2015); The Embalmer, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria (2015); The Embalmer, Kunstraum Dornbirn, Dornbirn, Austria (2015); and Berlinde De Bruyckere, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands (2015).

In 2013, De Bruyckere was selected to represent Belgium at the 55th Biennale di Venezia, where she unveiled her monumental work Kreupelhout – Cripplewood (2012–3), a collaboration with Nobel Prize novelist J.M. Coetzee.

Recently, De Bruyckere has extended her field of activity towards the performing arts as a scenographer, in close collaboration with photographer Mirjam Devriendt. Those projects include City of Refuge IV, Ruhrtriennale, Bochum, Germany (2024); Mariavespers, Holland Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2017); Nicht Schlafen, Les Ballets C de la B, Ruhrtriennale, Bochum, Germany (2016); and Penthesilea, La Monnaie, Brussels, Belgium (2015). 

Also on view at Bozar

When We See Us
​A Century of Black Figuration in Painting
​07.02.25 → 10.08.25 (Ravenstein Circuit)

How have artists from Africa and its vast diaspora depicted daily life over the past century? Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, and her team have sought to answer this question with a landmark exhibition. Bozar proudly presents this vast kaleidoscope of Black figurative painting from the 1920s to the present day. ​

Inspired by Ava DuVernay's series When They See Us, the exhibition title "When We See Us" reflects a fundamental perspective exploring Black self-representation and global Black subjectivities. Over 150 works by 120 artists are grouped into six themes: "The Everyday”, "Joy & Revelry”, "Repose”, "Sensuality”, "Spirituality”, and "Triumph and Emancipation”. ​

By focusing on these themes, the exhibition offers a rich, nuanced view of Black life and thought, emphasising the resilience, essence, and political charge of Black joy. It highlights relationships between artists and artworks across geographies and generations, fostering a deeper understanding of the complex and underrepresented genealogy rooted in African and Black modernities. When We See Us encourages discussion on Black liberation and intellectual movements and celebrates experiences from Africa and the African diaspora contributing to the art historical canon. ​

This exhibition is conceived and organised by Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) In Cape Town​​​​​​​.​​​​​​​

When We See Us is presented at Bozar ​​​​​​​under the Patronage of Her Majesty the Queen.

Support: Belgian Federal Public Service, Foreign Affairs, Foreign trade & Development Cooperation