A detail of an artwork by Michaël Borremans titled The Commuter II dated 2022

's (b. 1963) innovative approach to painting combines technical mastery with subject matter that defies straightforward interpretation. His charged canvases address universal themes that seem to resonate with a specifically contemporary complexity.

The artist was born in 1963 in Geraardsbergen, Belgium, and in 1996 he received his M.F.A. from Hogeschool voor Wetenschap en Kunst, Campus St. Lucas, in Ghent. Borremans continues to live and work in Ghent. David Zwirner has represented the artist’s work since 2001. In 2024, the solo exhibition 

 was on view at David Zwirner, London. Previous solo presentations of the artist’s work at the gallery include 

Borremans’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at a number of prominent institutions. 

Michaël Borremans – A Confrontation at the Zoo

, a comprehensive solo exhibition, is currently on view at Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar, the Netherlands, through March 2025. In April 2024, Prada Rong Zhai presented 

, which was installed in a 1918 historic home in the Jing’an district of Shanghai. In 2020, the two-person presentation, 

Michaël Borremans | Mark Manders: Double Silence

, was on view at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan. Also in 2020, 

 was on view at Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague. 

was presented at the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Spain, in 2015–2016. A major museum survey, 

, which included one hundred works from the past two decades, was on view at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels in 2014. The exhibition traveled later in the year to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, followed by the Dallas Museum of Art in 2015. 

, the artist’s first solo museum show in Japan, was also on view in 2014 at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.

, a comprehensive solo show, was presented at the Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, and traveled to the Műcsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, and the Kunsthalle Helsinki. In 2010, he had a solo exhibition at the Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo, as well as commissioned work on view at the Royal Palace in Brussels. Other venues that have hosted solo exhibitions include the Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover, Germany (2009); de Appel Arts Centre, Amsterdam (2007); Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent (2005; traveled to Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, London; and Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin); Cleveland Museum of Art (2005); Kunsthalle Bremerhaven, Germany (2004); and the Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel (2004).

Work by the artist is held in public collections internationally, including the Art Institute of Chicago; Cleveland Museum of Art; Dallas Museum of Art; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

Portrait of Michaël Borremans. Photo by Alex Salinas

s (2021); and many book and monograph contributions, essays, and interviews. She is the coauthor of 

 (2016). Notable artist collaborations include 

 (2022) and projects with Barry McGee, Todd Hido, and Espen Dietrichson. Katya has been a contributing editor and writer for publications such as 

. With her brother Alexei she co-founded Friend & Colleague, a platform for editions, fiction and special projects.

Katya Tylevich

Presenting the Belgian artist Michaël Borremans’s newest group of psychologically charged paintings, this catalogue highlights his exceptional technical skill, interest in figuration, and innovative approach to mise-en-scène.

“Everything is a self-portrait. And now I have been painting monkeys. . . . It’s like making a movie.” —Michaël Borremans, 

 showcases seventeen paintings that reveal his interest in exploring surface and artifice. Borremans portrays mysterious sitters—including the titular monkeys, which are glazed toy figurines—and depicts enigmatic scenes that simultaneously invite viewers in and keep them at bay.

Katya Tylevich’s insightful commentary delves into the depths of Borremans’s compositions, connecting the themes and motifs in 

 to those present in previous bodies of work. Tylevich delves into the complex emotional and art-historical registers at play in the artist’s new paintings and maps the trajectory of his practice, observing other instances of repetition and fabulation across his practice. The publication, featuring this essay alongside beautifully illustrated images of the new paintings, serves as the ideal complement to the artist’s 2024 exhibition at David Zwirner, London.


Michaël Borremans: The Monkey

Michaël Borremans: The Monkey | Books

David Zwirner is an art gallery with locations in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Hong Kong. We present physical and online exhibitions, podcasts, books, and more.