Museum Exhibition Catalogues, Monographs, Artist's Projects, Curatorial Writings and Essays
"Borreman's drawings, paintings, and films are closely intertwined, though without this involving the mere formal translation from one medium to another or the genesis from 'concept' to 'preliminary study' and, finally, 'finished work.' Rather the artist operates in an area bordered by all the various media." Hans D. Christ, excerpted from the introduction to Michaël Borremans: Eating the Beard.
Belgian artist Michaël Borremans (born 1963) is a master of contradiction. His paintings draw heavily from 18th-century portraiture techniques, but depict scenes that are stranger and more surreal than they first appear: in one painting, children dance in a circle, cloaked in black robes; in another, a woman attempts to cram her whole hand into her mouth. Avoiding any suggestion of a specific time or place, Borremans’ eerie images are situated just slightly beyond the realms of possibility. His dark sense of humor and technical virtuosity are synthesized into a uniquely unsettling and endlessly fascinating experience for viewers.
This volume provides an overview of all of Borremans’ work since 2013, presented in seven different series of paintings. The majority of works collected here have never before been published.
Published by Hatje Cantz. Edited by Jeffrey Grove. Text by Michael Amy, Hans Christ, David Coggins, Martin Germann, Jeffrey Grove, Jan Hoet, Jeffrey Kastner, David Lynch, Charlotte Mullins et al.
Since the late 1990s, when he first began to produce drawings and paintings, Michaël Borremans has created an extraordinarily mature body of work that has captured international attention. The disparate spaces he imagines in his paintings, drawings, sculptures and films are unified by an uncanny sense of dislocation and an often unsettling beauty. Rendered in complex palettes and exquisite techniques, Borremans’ works in all media embrace a rich legacy of artistic progenitors, but remain firmly anchored in the present. Presenting over 100 works created by the artist over a 14-year period in all media, this publication includes many works not previously reproduced in books or catalogues, offering the most complete overview of Borremans’ oeuvre to date. Contributions include a concise and incisive overview of Borremans’ practice; a revealing, in-depth interview between the main author of the book, Jeffrey Grove, and the artist, addressing process, influence and philosophical and critical issues; as well as more than 50 individual entries and mini-essays on individual works in the artist’s oeuvre by notable writers, curators, filmmakers and musicians. Described by the artist as "the mother of all Borremans books," Michaël Borremans: As Sweet As It Gets is published on the occasion of a major mid-career retrospective. Initially trained in photography and graphic design, the Belgian artist Michaël Borremans (born 1963) turned to painting at the age of 30. Work by the artist is held in numerous public collections, including The Art Institute of Chicago; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia; 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; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Borremans lives and works in Ghent.
Michaël Borremans: As Sweet as It Gets