Art exhibition: Jan Vanriet's chunks of flesh

Born in 1948, Antwerp artist Jan Vanriet was the star of the show at the opening of the Roberto Polo gallery in November 2012. This is his second exhibition in this gallery. 

The gallery has almost doubled in area since then, following the addition of the neighbouring retail space. It’s a huge, spectacular three-storey venue – the perfect place to effectively display Vanriet’s large canvasses.

From the entrance, we see immense paintings depicting pieces of red, bloody meat. It’s a metaphor for the socialist party, says Roberto Polo, smiling. Here, the promises (bright red meat); there, the disappointment (meat turned black).

Beyond this symbolism – a bit blunt or subjective –, we relish in the way the artist enjoyed painting these very, very enlarged chunks of flesh in large strokes. The texture, colour and the gesture of the brush make us happy.

Jan Vanriet loves books, poetry, language and the latter’s relationship with images. He’s a painter but also a poet. Again and again, his paintings take us on a journey into memory. From the same community of painters as Luc Tuymans, Vanriet has consistently painted in a realistic narrative style which could also be described as romantic.

Vanriet is influenced by his private family history, but also by History with a capital H, which has largely impacted the life of his parents and grandparents, through the tragedy of the Holocaust. His work is most narrative when he evokes this history.

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