Berlinde De Bruyckere’s exhibition at the Abbey of San Giorgio in Venice

The Venetian exhibition by Berlinde De Bruyckere (Ghent, 1964) is entitled City of Refuge IIIfrom the song by Nick Caveand is the third in a series of exhibitions by the artist that focus on art as a place of refuge and shelter.
At the entrance to the Palladian Basilica of San Gorgio Maggiore (located on the island of the same name overlooking Piazza San Marco), one is greeted by a first group of works, full of pathos: three archangels, one in the central nave and two in the side naves, veiled figures with human shapes. Each of these emerges from a sculptural group composed of three elements: a pedestal, a mirror – inclined, to show the subject and the church from various angles, almost to create illusions – and a banner, which recalls the fabrics used during the occasions liturgical. The artist explains how an important part of the installation work took place inside the church and how it became his studio. He looked carefully at the light to decide where to place the works and the mirrors. He had created other colored fabric drapes, which he did not use because he did not want to overwhelm the visitor, but to dialogue with the environment, given that in the church there are also two paintings by Tintoretto.

Berlinde De Bruyckere’s exhibition in Venice

The pedestals and banners are sculptures in their own right: through the movement of the fabric and the way the light captures some details of the silver-patinated pillar, which she created.
Berlinde De Bruyckere explains that Carmelo Grasso – director of the Benedicti Claustra Onlus, a non-profit branch of the Benedictine Community, and curator of the exhibition together with Ory Dessau and Peter Buggenhout – showed her the fabrics preserved in the Abbey, which she was very impressed by .
The other pillar is made of rusty iron and is one of the objects that the artist finds, keeps, even for years and, at the right time, reuses. What fascinated her was the distorted shape and the fact that it was empty behind. It aims to be a link with Venice, where many objects are eroded by continuous contact with water.
The archangels give the idea of ​​an ascending movement, of difference between human and divine. Their limbs are larger than life and fit perfectly into the architectural, sculptural and pictorial context of reference.
The artist began this project in June 2023 and the angel series in August of the same year. Only after the pandemic did he return to the theme of the human body in his works.

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Still life as a symbol of resurrection in the works of Berlinde De Bruyckere

The second group of works is located in the sacristy: wax reconstructions of a fallen tree that the artist found in a forest, in December 2023. Torn to pieces by lightning and covered by the regrowth of grass, De Bruyckere brought to his studio, struck by its elegance.
To this he combined three welding tables, also found objects, which together form a still life. The artist wants to convey the feelings one feels when faced with a catastrophe, how one feels small and helpless. A reference to current events and the critical moment in which we live, al our relationship with nature, wars and not learning from our past mistakes.
Berlinde De Bruyckere’s work is full of declarations of intent: she wants to speak to those who have faith and “consolidate our presence in the church, after all these centuries”; after all”the reason we go to church is to seek spirituality”. But at the same time talk to people of other beliefs or atheists, through universally known symbols.

Giulia Bianco

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