Till 8 May you can visit a retrospective of Luc Tuymans’ (1958) work at the Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels. Tuymans lives and works in Antwerp and is considered to be one of the most influential contemporary artists.

The exhibition was coproduced with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Wexner Center for the Arts (The Ohio State University, Columbus) and Brussels will be its only European stop.

Over 70 canvases are on show illustrating thirty years of creation in chronological order.  The selection puts the accent on series that demonstrate internal cohesion. These series have been brought together mainly by drawing on private collections from all over the world.

In his oeuvre Luc Tuymans examines history, memory and mass media, letting himself be inspired by the most diverse subjects. He focuses on major historic events, such as the aftermath of the Second World War, the dramatic upheavals following the 9/11 attacks and the postcolonial era in Congo, and nationalism. Tuymans is particularly interested in the aftereffects of these events and specifically in the way they are represented in the mass media. He draws his inspiration from the historic traditions of European painting, as well as from photography, film and television.

Apparently unfeeling

Tuymans takes issue with the immediate nature of the ubiquitous images given over to consumption. At first glance many of Tuymans' paintings look like relatively innocent or even banal scenes from everyday life – sometimes they are interiors and then again they are landscapes or figurative representations. But behind that ordinariness there usually lurks a deeper meaning. Events and ideas are seldom expressed explicitly. Instead they are suggested by subtle hints and allusions, creating an ambiguous collage of loose fragments and details. Tuymans visualises the unimaginable to show the observers their role as observers – and often unwilling accomplices – of history. In this demarche his palette of subdued colours plays a paramount role, as does his apparently unfeeling style, which is always rich in meaning.

One day art

Tuymans paints every canvas in a single day. When he closes the door of his studio behind him at night the painting is either a success or a failure. He used to paint over a canvas if he thought that the work had not succeeded. Nowadays he can throw away unsuccessful work.