Luc Tuymans at The Menil Collection, Houston

In Nice, thirty of Luc Tuymans’ oil paintings are exhibited side-by-side with notable and diverse pieces, including masks and carved heads from The Menil’s African and Native American collections and paintings from more contemporary collections (Picasso, Klein). The result is a compelling comment on the nature and object of portraiture; we question whether the subject is the person (as in his self-portraits) or a certain subject (as in World War II).  Blurring the line between documentation and portraiture, Mr. Tuyman adapts and transforms images in a way that almost erases the character of the subject itself, leaving only the detritus of political or emotional comment (many of the portraits are of controversial political figures). Further, the juxtaposition of his paintings with other forms of human representation reflects an interest in the relationship between content and surface, the literal and the metaphorical.

Luc Tuymans, Nice, The Menil Collection, Houston, through 5 January 2014.

Luc Tuymans, The Menil Collection

Luc Tuymans, Secrets, oil on canvas, Nice, The Menil Collection, Houston

Luc Tuymans, The Menil Collection

Luc Tuymans, Evidence, Oil on canvas, Nice,The Menil Collection, Houston

Luc Tuymans, The Menil Collection

Luc Tuymans, The Secretary of State, oil on canvas, Nice, The Menil Collection, Houston

Luc Tuymans, The Menil Collection

Luc Tuymans, Käthe Grüsse, oil on canvas, Nice, The Menil Collection, Houston

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by Catherine Nueva España
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