Michaël Borremans rattles the subconscious. His paintings, created with masterful skill in oil paint, connect with deep, often dark feelings that lurk in the collective mind. Children and animals feature heavily, evoking aspects of humanity that are repressed or warped in the contemporary world. A beautifully rendered painting of children picking up scattered limbs might prompt the viewer to uncomfortably question their own role: are they a critical witness to this atrocity or a titillated spectator? While the Belgian artist is best known for his paintings, he also works with film, and has recently played a role in Luca Guadagnino’s much-anticipated movie Queer.