'I’m sort of a servant of beauty', says Jan Fabre, looking around the Ronchini Gallery in Mayfair. He’s taking in the selection of works that form his solo exhibition ‘Knight of the Night’ – works, he says with a wondrous expression, he hasn’t seen in about 20 years.
The Belgian artist is a multi-disciplinary thinker who chooses the most fitting medium for the idea he has in mind. The suits of armor and skulls made of thousands of iridescent wing-cases of scarab beetles; the taxidermied magpie and rusty keys that add weighty symbolism to them; the Lancelot performance in which he battles himself with pathos; the introspective diary entries that touch upon zealous knightly fantasies; and the Bic ballpoint pen drawings. All these are different guises of Fabre’s unrelenting probing of what he terms 'the body as object and subject'.
They are also worldly reminders of death. Strongly influenced by his great grandfather Jean-Henri Fabre, a 19th century entomologist, Fabre’s oeuvre is steeped in notions of the human and animal body, of death and metamorphosis. 'We have an internal skeleton, while the scarab’s skeleton is external,' he explains. 'Those works were about creating a new skin, a new armour, a kind of protection. My universe is devoid of cynicism,' he continues. 'It articulates hope and the defense of the vulnerable.'
Though Fabre insists he’s a provincial artist – 'I’m a dwarf in a land of giants,' he states with an apt sense of theatricality – his themes are universal. His hometown Antwerp’s great history of Flemish Masters, from which he proclaims to steal, is the foundation of an imagery that borrows precisely those memento mori elements that are intuitively understood.
’I’m sort of a servant of beauty’, says the artist – on show is a suit of armor and skulls made of thousands of iridescent wing-cases of scarab beetles. Pictured: Armour (Breast),
The exhibition also features a host of colourful Bic ballpoint pen drawings. Pictured left: Untitled, 1994. Right: Metamorphose, 1992.
Fabre hasn’t seen some of these works in around 20 years, he claims. Pictured left: Untitled–Self-Portrait, 1988. Right: Skull with Whip, 2013.
Though Fabre insists he’s a provincial artist, his themes are universal. His hometown Antwerp’s great history of Flemish Masters, from which he proclaims to steal, is the foundation of an imagery that borrows precisely those memento mori elements that are intuitively understood. Pictured left: The man who bears the cross, 2015. Courtesy Attilio Maranzano, Cathedral of Our Lady. Right: Jan Fabre, by Jeroen Mantel. Courtesy Angelos Bvba
INFORMATION
’Jan Fabre: Knight of the Night’ is on view until 19 March. For more information, visit the Ronchini Gallery’s website
Photography courtesy the artist and Ronchini Gallery
ADDRESS
Ronchini Gallery
22 Dering Street
London, W1S 1AN
-
Premium pocketable audio scales up with the new SP4000 from Astell&KernThe Astell&Kern A&ultima SP4000 is a serious piece of audiophile equipment, a high-res portable player that offers endless ways to shape your listening experience
-
The ultimate amenity in this Canadian apartment building? A trio of scene-stealing restaurantsPart of Citizen on Jasper, a new residential tower, Va!, Olia, and Mimi offer a thrilling day-to-night dining experience
-
These sculptural mirrors embody the relaxed spirit of the MedPhotographed in a Mallorcan residence designed by local studio Munarq, these new sculptural mirrors by New York furniture company Ready To Hang are inspired by the sea
-
Artists imbue the domestic with an unsettling unfamiliarity at Hauser & WirthThree artists – Koak, Ding Shilun and Cece Philips – bring an uncanny subversion to the domestic environment in Hauser & Wirth’s London exhibition
-
Inside the fight to keep an iconic Barbara Hepworth sculpture in the UK‘Sculpture with Colour’ captures a pivotal moment in Hepworth’s career. When it was sold to an overseas buyer, UK institutions launched a campaign to keep it in the country
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekAnother week, another flurry of events, opening and excursions showcasing the best of culture and entertainment at home and abroad. Catch our editors at Scandi festivals, iconic jazz clubs, and running the length of Manhattan…
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThe Wallpaper* team immersed themselves in culture this week, attending theatre, music and art performances and exhibitions at some of London’s most esteemed establishments. Along the way, we may have discovered the city's best salad…
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt’s been another week of Wallpaper* being first through the door – visiting, sampling and reporting back on the freshest in art, design, beauty and more. Highlights included a new rental development, skincare residency and Edinburgh hotel…
-
Get the picture? A new exhibition explores the beautiful simplicity of Japanese pictogramsThe simple, minimalist forms of a pictogram are uniquely Japanese, as new exhibition 'Pictograms: Iconic Japanese Designs' illustrates
-
From Snapchat dysmorphia to looksmaxing, have digital beauty standards made us lose sight of what's real, asks a new exhibitionAI, social media and the ease with which we can tweak our face mean we're heading towards a dystopian beauty future, argues 'Virtual Beauty' at Somerset House
-
Take a rare peek inside eighties London's most famous clubFrom George Michael to Boy George, photographer David Koppel captured a who's who of celerities at Eighties nightclub Limelight
