David Zwirner is pleased to present an exhibition of new work by the renowned Belgian artist Luc Tuymans (b. 1958) at the gallery’s Hong Kong location—his first solo presentation in Greater China. On view will be a selection of recent paintings and a new single-channel animated video that are drawn from a range of historical and contemporary images. Together the works share an undercurrent, as suggested by the exhibition’s title, of paradox and uncertainty.
Tuymans has become known for a distinctive style of painting that demonstrates the power of images to simultaneously communicate and withhold. Emerging in the 1980s, Tuymans pioneered a decidedly non-narrative approach to figurative painting, instead exploring how information can be layered and embedded within certain scenes and signifiers. Based on preexisting imagery culled from a variety of sources, his works are rendered in a muted palette that is suggestive of a blurry recollection or a fading memory. Their quiet and restrained appearance, however, belies an underlying moral complexity, and they engage equally with questions of history and its representation as they do with quotidian subject matter. Tuymans’s canvases both undermine and reinvent traditional notions of monumentality through their insistence on the ambiguity of meaning.
The present exhibition brings together a wide range of global, historical, and contemporary references that reflect ongoing themes of interest for the artist. Among the works on view are a group of canvases painted from snapshot images of Delft tiles, which originated in the context of seventeenth-century Dutch imperialism. Initially made and distributed in response to increasing demand in Europe for prized Ming dynasty ceramics at a lower price during the golden age of Dutch trade, these tin-glazed objects mimic both the appearance and techniques of fine Chinese porcelain and often take banal scenes of everyday life adapted for a European context as their subject matter. Tuymans, who is half Dutch and lives and works in Antwerp, an original site of ceramic production before workshops were relocated to Delft, focuses on a solitary figure in each of these tiles to underscore the hybrid and evolving nature of this iconography, as the tiles continue to function as global consumer goods. Other paintings in the show address history, including Cell (2019), an enigmatic image of an anonymous prison cell door in use in Berlin in the 1930s that has two viewing holes, as if to conflate the gaze of the prison keeper with that of the imprisoned. The ever-accelerated connection between past, present, and future is explored in Shenzhen (2019), which depicts an aerial view of the Chinese city, painted by the artist from a documentary still captured from his laptop. Overlaid with play, rewind, and fast-forward symbols, the otherwise generic cityscape takes on an air of nostalgia for both the past and an unknown future.
Also on view is Outfit (2019), which depicts a costume worn by the early Hollywood actor Tom Mix, who appeared as a cowboy in nearly three hundred American Westerns in the first half of the twentieth century. Westerns were exported internationally and served, in part, to function as archetypal representations of the United States. Here, the cowboy is presented as a disembodied prop in a museum, heightening a sense of artifice that suggests a parallel to the United States’ evolving, shifting role in the export of both culture and goods within the global marketplace. The exhibition also includes the monumentally scaled Anonymous I (2018), a painting based on a series of black-and-white images of forensically reconstructed faces. Depicting an individual who in reality may or may not exist, the artist has imbued the figure with an uncanny presence. Tuymans’s longstanding fascination with the idea of the face as an object sets up a tension between immediacy and withholding, and the real and the constructed.
Featured in the exhibition is (2019), an animated work that reflects Tuymans’s ongoing interest in the relationship between moving and static images. Here, an owl is shown taking flight. The nocturnal bird can be seen to embody a dichotomy—at once a symbol of wisdom and the perfect predator, because it can approach its prey silently and with stealth. Like Francisco de Goya’s representation of an owl in his famous 1799 etching The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, made in another time of crisis, Tuymans’s owl appears as a kind of premonition.
As the critic Su Wei describes in the accompanying exhibition catalogue, Tuymans’s works provide “avenues for reconsidering emotions, morals, and understandings of history in an unstable world.”1 Or as the artist himself has noted, the works in this exhibition are “not unlike the times we are living in now and moreover like the anachronism that painting is itself.”2
A new publication on the artist’s work will be available on the occasion of the exhibition, featuring texts by Su Wei and Éric de Chassey, as well as a republished essay by Luc Tuymans from the 2007 catalogue The Forbidden Empire: World Views of Chinese and Flemish Masters, for the exhibition he co-curated with Yu Hui at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, and the Palace Museum, Beijing.
Born in 1958 in Mortsel, Belgium, Luc Tuymans is one of the most important painters of his generation. His first major museum presentations were held in 1990 at the Provinciaal Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Ostend, Belgium, and the Vereniging voor het Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent. In 1992, the artist participated in documenta IX in Kassel, in addition to having a solo exhibition at Kunsthalle Bern, which helped cement his growing reputation in Europe. In 1994, Luc Tuymans: Superstition debuted at Portikus, Frankfurt, and traveled to David Zwirner, New York; the Art Gallery of York University, Toronto; The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago; Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; and Goldie Paley Gallery, Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, establishing him as a major influential artist abroad. In 2001, the artist represented Belgium at the Venice Biennale to great acclaim.
Tuymans has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions at prestigious institutions worldwide. Major presentations of his work include those held at Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2019); De Pont Museum, Tilburg, The Netherlands (2019); Museum aan de Stroom (MAAS), Antwerp (2016), which traveled to the National Portrait Gallery, London; QM Gallery Al Riwaq, Qatar Museums, Doha (2015); Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio (2009), which traveled to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and BOZAR – Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels; and Tate Modern, London (2004), which traveled to K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf.
Tuymans has received numerous awards and honors, including the Medal of Honor, International Congress of Contemporary Painting (ICOCEP), Porto, Portugal (2019); Coutts Contemporary Art Foundation Award, Zurich (2000); and Flemish Culture Award for Visual Arts (1993). His works are featured in museum collections worldwide, including Art Institute of Chicago; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Fondazione Prada, Milan; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; The National Museum of Art, Osaka; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; Pinault Collection; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Tate, London.
Tuymans’s catalogue raisonné of paintings, from 1972 to 2018, is now available from David Zwirner Books and Yale University Press. The three volumes feature full-color images and documentation of more than five hundred paintings.
Tuymans has been represented by David Zwirner since 1994, and this is his thirteenth solo exhibition with the gallery. He lives and works in Antwerp.
1 Su Wei, “The Path of Globalization and its Footnote: On Luc Tuymans’s Encounter with China,” in Luc Tuymans: Good Luck. Exh. cat. (New York/Hong Kong: David Zwirner Books, 2020), p. 30.
2 Luc Tuymans, cited in ibid., p. 31.
Image: Luc Tuymans, Still, 2019
For all press inquiries, contact
Julia Lukacher +1 212 727 2070 jlukacher@davidzwirner.com
Sara Chan +44 20 3538 3165 sara@davidzwirner.com
Tong Hu +852 9769 4819 tong@davidzwirner.com
Angel Luo +852 9243 4330 angel@suttoncomms.com
呂克·圖伊曼斯：好運
2020年10月27日 - 12月19日
香港中環皇后大道中80號
H Queen’s 5-6樓
卓納畫廊於香港空間欣然呈現比利時知名藝術家呂克·圖伊曼斯（Luc Tuymans，b. 1958）的新作展——這將是藝術家在大中華地區的首次個展。展覽將呈現精選的近期繪畫作品以及一件單頻動畫影像作品，它們均由一系列歷史及當代的圖像延展而出。正如展覽標題所示，這些作品充滿著一股矛盾與不確定性並存的暗流。
圖伊曼斯以獨特的繪畫風格聞名，他的圖像同時展示了交流與隱瞞的力量。自1980年代嶄露頭角以來，圖伊曼斯開創了一種非敘事性的具象繪畫表達，他深入探索那些嵌套於特定場景及能指符號之中的信息。他的作品提取自各類圖像素材。它們色調柔和，暗示著模糊的記憶和褪色的往昔。然而，在畫作安靜與克制的表面之下，還掩藏著潛在的道德複雜性。它們不僅關乎歷史及其表徵的問題，同時緊繫日常生活的主題。圖伊曼斯的繪畫始終意涵隱晦深邃，藉此去破壞亦重塑了圍繞「紀念」的傳統觀念。
這次展覽將涉及全球、歷史和當代的諸多議題匯集在一起，呈現了藝術家創作中長期以來饒富興趣的主題。其中一組布面畫作，以荷蘭南部代爾夫特（Delft）瓷磚的快照圖片為藍本。這是一種源起十七世紀荷蘭帝國主義歷史背景下的工藝。這些鍍錫陶瓷產生於荷蘭商貿的黃金時代，最初是為了應對珍貴的明代瓷器在歐洲的供不應求，而以相對低廉的價格來生產與流通。它們試圖模仿精美的中國瓷器所具有的外觀和技術，並常常以平淡無奇的日常生活場景為主題，由此更好地適應歐洲的語境。圖伊曼斯具有一半的荷蘭血統，他生活工作於安特衛普，那裡曾是眾多瓷器生產工坊的所在地，直至工坊後來遷至代爾夫特。藝術家致力於描繪這些瓷磚中的每一個獨立形象，以凸顯這些圖示中中西融合及發展衍變的特性，因為這些瓷磚目前仍然是一種全球化的消費品。展覽中的其他繪畫作品則涉及了歷史主題，比如《牢房》（Cell，2019）。這幅畫面神秘的作品描繪了1930年代柏林某無名監獄的牢房大門，門上有兩個可供窺探的小孔，似乎將監獄看守和被監禁者的凝視合併在了一起。作品《深圳》（Shenzhen，2019）探索了過去、現在和未來之間不斷加速的聯結。畫作描繪了這座中國城市的鳥瞰圖，繪製自藝術家在筆記本電腦上觀看紀錄片時截取的靜幀圖像。這幅原本普普通通的城市風景上覆蓋著播放、後退和快進的符號，畫面散發出既回望過去、又指向未知將來的懷舊氣息。
展覽還將呈現作品《套裝》（Outfit，2019），描繪了早期好萊塢演員湯姆·米克斯（Tom Mix）曾經穿過的一件戲服。在20世紀上半葉，米克斯曾以牛仔的形像出現於近三百部美國西部片中。西部片從美國出口至世界各地，並且在一定程度上充當著美國形象的某種原型。在這裡，牛仔的形像以博物館中一具沒有人形的道具呈現，由此增強了一種弔詭之感，暗示著美國在全球市場的文化和商品出口中不斷演化與轉變的角色。展覽還囊括了尺幅宏大的作品《無名者 I》（Anonymous I, 2018），出自藝術家基於法醫重建的黑白面部肖像圖而創作的系列。藝術家所描繪的是一個或許在生活中並不真實存在的人，而他為人物賦予了一層神秘的存在感。圖伊曼斯長期迷戀於將人臉視作某種物件的想法，這為他的作品在直白和含蓄、真實和建構之間營造出了張力。
展覽中的動畫作品《貓頭鷹》（Owl，2019）體現了圖伊曼斯對動態影像和靜態圖像之間關係的持續關注。作品中，一隻貓頭鷹正在飛翔。這個夜行動物可被視為體現著某種二分法——它既是智慧的象徵，又是一個完美的捕食者，因為它能悄無聲息而秘密地接近獵物。正如法蘭西斯高·德·哥雅（Francisco de Goya）在充滿危機的1799年創作的著名蝕刻作品《理性沉睡，心魔生焉》中的貓頭鷹那樣，圖伊曼斯的貓頭鷹似乎也可被視為某種預兆。
如評論家蘇偉在本次展覽的圖冊中所述，圖伊曼斯的作品提供了「思考的途徑，在變動不居中測試自己的情感、道德和認知。」[1]或者，亦如藝術家本人所說，這次展覽中的作品「並非僅僅投射我們所在的時代，而更像是繪畫自身的一種懷舊。」[2]
展覽將同期推出圖伊曼斯的最新出版物，收錄了由蘇偉與埃里克·德·沙塞（Éric de Chassey）所撰寫的文字，還對呂克·圖伊曼斯收錄於《紫禁城：中國·比利時繪畫五百年》展覽圖冊中的策展文字進行了重新整理和發表。這場展覽由圖伊曼斯和北京故宮博物院策展人餘暉聯合策展，於2007年先後在北京故宮博物院與布魯塞爾美術宮舉辦。
呂克·圖伊曼斯（Luc Tuymans）1958年生於比利時莫策爾，被公認為同代最為重要的畫家之一。 1990年，他的首場重要博物館展覽在比利時奧斯坦德現代藝術博物館與根特當代藝術博物館協會舉辦。 1992年，藝術家參加了第9屆德國卡塞爾文獻展，並在瑞士伯爾尼美術館舉辦了個展，這進一步鞏固了他在歐洲日漸增長的聲譽。 1994年，《呂克·圖伊曼斯：迷信》在法蘭克福門廊博物館舉辦，後巡迴至紐約卓納畫廊、多倫多約克大學美術館、芝加哥大學文藝復興協會、倫敦當代藝術學院與費城莫爾藝術與設計學院戈迪·帕雷美術館，該巡迴確立了圖伊曼斯在海外的重要影響力。 2001年，藝術家代表比利時參加了威尼斯雙年展，備受讚譽。
圖伊曼斯已在眾多國際知名機構舉辦過多場個人展覽。其重要展覽經歷包括威尼斯格拉西宮（2019）；荷蘭提爾堡德龐特美術館（2019）；安特衛普河畔博物館（MAS），後巡迴至倫敦國家肖像美術館（2016）；多哈卡塔爾博物館（ 2015）；俄亥俄州維克斯納藝術中心，後巡迴至三藩市現代藝術博物館、達拉斯藝術博物館、芝加哥當代藝術博物館和布魯塞爾美術宮（2009）；倫敦泰特現代美術館，後巡迴至杜塞爾多夫K21北萊茵-威斯特法倫藝術收藏館（2004）。
圖伊曼斯已榮獲諸多獎項與榮耀，包括由國際當代繪畫協會（ICOCEP）頒發的榮譽獎章（2019，葡萄牙波爾多）；顧資當代藝術基金會大獎（2000，蘇黎世）；及弗拉芒視覺藝術文化獎（1993）。他的作品已被國際各大博物館納入館藏，包括芝加哥藝術協會；巴黎龐比度藝術中心；米蘭普拉達基金會；洛杉磯郡立美術館；紐約現代藝術博物館；華盛頓特區國家美術館；大阪國家美術館；慕尼黑現代博物館；皮諾收藏；紐約所羅門·R·古根漢美術館；三藩市現代藝術博物館；倫敦泰特美術館。圖伊曼斯現生活和工作於比利時安特衛普。
圖伊曼斯從1972年至2018年的作品全集現已由卓納圖書及耶魯大學出版社出版面世。作品全集共三卷，收錄了圖伊曼斯500多件作品的全彩記錄。
[1] 蘇偉，《全球化的路徑與註腳——關於呂克·圖伊曼斯與中國的相遇》，收錄於《呂克·圖伊曼斯：好運》展覽圖冊（紐約/香港：卓納圖書，2020），p.30。
[2] 呂克·圖伊曼斯，同上，p.31。
媒體垂詢
Julia Lukacher +1 212 727 2070 jlukacher@davidzwirner.com
Sara Chan +44 20 3538 3165 sara@davidzwirner.com
Tong Hu +852 9769 4819 tong@davidzwirner.com
Angel Luo +852 9243 4330 angel@suttoncomms.com