Michaël Borremans: Coloured Cones

Cones covered by satin fabrics are the main protagonists in Borremans’ latest series of paintings. This series resulted in the eponymous solo show Coloured Cones at Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp. It was the seventh solo show by Michaël Borremans in the prestigious gallery in the city of Rubens, presenting eighteen paintings made in the past two years.

And so it seems the works of the charismatic Belgian painter continue to evolve in a manner characteristic of his enigmatic oeuvre. Unpredictable, subtle, a good portion of humor, ambiguous, a touch of melancholy, and, as always, breathtaking. The concept of the colored cones came about, as often with Borremans, by accident. The process of serendipity that led to this series of works started with samples of fabric to make costumes for a different series of works—a series in which the artist asked his models to make a costume to pose a specific subject, for instance, a rocket or a naked human (two works of this series are in fact included in the show Coloured Cones). The fabrics were displayed on top of cones to simulate the shape or form of a human figure. Borremans was intrigued by these objects’ strange and peculiar presentation and thus decided to paint them.

He installs and constellates the cones in different settings as if the cones are no longer objects but subjects. Some of the cones even have names, such as Dodgy Bob but also The Pope. The latter illustrates how the fabrics, even more, the representation of fabrics, are the foundation in this series for the ongoing dialogue of Michaël Borremans with art history. The satin color of the cone is a direct reference – as is the title – to the portrait of Innocentius X by Diego Velazquez (b. 1599-1660), Borremans’ baroque painting teacher (see images below). This brings us to one of the most striking visual aspects of these small-scale paintings, the color. The amount of pigment in the color seems to be as surreal as his images. The virtuoso brushstrokes emphasize to immaculate quality of oil paint and our everlasting adoration for the medium.

In the second chamber of the gallery, the cones are juxtaposed with some characteristic portraits. The monumental painting Large Rocket fills the entire room, resonating with the shape and fabrics of the cones (see image below). Borremans consciously encompasses portraiture and still life, as if we are hovering as a species in between. A mockery of our existence and how we lose touch with our nature, a characteristic aspect of the current Zeitgeist and the painter’s impending investigation of the human condition.

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Last Updated on October 26, 2024