Man in the Mirror

Vanhaerents Art Collection - Brussels

Curated by Emma Dexter and Walter Vanhaerents

By Steve Schepens

The concept of the mirror is of great significance for literature, philosophy, psychology, psychoanalysis, art, design, architecture and not in the least the construction market for bathrooms. In art, the mirror is the number one subject of all time. The mirror can show us the psychological and sociological self as significant other.

The examples of mirrors in art are inexhaustible. The painter uses a mirror to paint a self-portrait, it was used to create the Arnolfini portrait by Jan van Eyck, and so on. I will give you my favorite example: During the Renaissance, Italian architect, engineer, sculptor and painter Filippo Brunelleschi developed the linear perspective for painting. Brunelleschi stood outside with his easel, painting the Florence Baptistery (Battistero di San Giovanni), also known as the Baptistery of Saint John. Where the bronze door was represented in the painting, the artist drilled a hole in “the form of a lentil.” Brunelleschi invited his friends to come and admire the artwork. When they arrived in front of the easel on the square in front of the baptistery, they found the painting turned front to back. On instruction of Brunelleschi they had to look through the hole. They saw the real baptistery. Brunelleschi then jumped in their field of vision with a mirror and they saw the painting reflected. The real and imaginary baptisteries became one.

James Lee Byars, The Death of James Lee Byars, 1994. Installation view at Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels.

Can we imagine a man shaving in front of a mirror 30 years ago in Chernobyl, Ukraine, when all hell broke loose? This exact moment of horror can be imagined through the artwork Mirror Wall by Jeppe Hein in the exhibition at the VanhaerentsArtCollection in Brussels, although it doesn’t have a direct link to the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl. It’s a large mirror, mounted on the wall, that starts trembling once the onlooker stands in front of it.

The extensive exhibition spanning diverse art movements and featuring 37 artists at the collection of Walter Vanhaerents is spread over three stories of the industrial building, and is on display for three years until 28th October 2017.

Important to mention is the mixed-media artwork Social Mobility, Fig. 2, by Elmgreen & Dragset. It shows a destroyed or crumbling staircase leading to a safety exit high up. Also of note are the computer-aided, designed sculptures Projection (green) by Michael Delucia; the sculpture No, by Mark Handforth, a large, folded steel street display with the letters “NO”; the bright gold-leaf cube environment and funeral bier by James Lee Byars entitled The Death of James Lee Byars; and Gregor Hildebrandt’s Rückseitiger Spiegel des Spiegels (Rearside Mirror of the Mirror), made from reflective strips of old-school blank videotape.

It is impossible to discuss all of the art works, so I suggest you visit this amazing exhibition. Furthermore, Brussels is safe, and there is no reason to be afraid to travel to this incredible art hub, where international artists, galleries and art collections offer a welcome new breath to the more traditional art world.

(April 24, 2014 - October 28, 2017)