Michaël Borremans: The Monkey

David Zwirner, London, UK

By Maxime Foucquet

July 2, 2024

David Zwirner presents “The Monkey,” a new solo exhibition by the acclaimed Belgian artist Michaël Borremans, at the gallery’s London location. This marks Borremans’s eighth solo exhibition with the gallery and his second at David Zwirner London, continuing his exploration of surface, artifice, and the staging of visual narratives.

“The Monkey” features a series of new paintings where Borremans juxtaposes technical mastery with enigmatic subject matter. These works are both humorous and unnerving, combining familiarity with mystery. The exhibition draws its title from a new series of portraits depicting a monkey adorned in regal blue and gold, echoing Jean Siméon Chardin’s 18th-century work, “The Monkey Painter.” However, unlike Chardin’s lively animal, Borremans presents a glazed, sculptural figurine meticulously rendered in layers of translucent oil paint that imbues it with a timeless depth and a strangely sentient appearance. Katya Tylevich, in an upcoming essay for David Zwirner Books, notes the sharp and dangerous quality of Borremans’s work, suggesting the humor in “The Monkey” is “wrapped in razor blades,” creating a visceral impact that is both compelling and disconcerting.

In his recent interview with Luca Guadagnino, Borremans described the monkey as “a universal version of the portrait of the painter, the figure of the artist,” suggesting a broader allegorical interpretation. This theme extends to other works in the exhibition, such as “The Monkey” (2023), depicting a young man in a helmet that reflects light much like the monkey’s glossy features, further blurring the lines between animate and inanimate, reality and artifice. The exhibition also includes portraits of human figures in contemporary and historical costumes and small-format landscape paintings that build upon themes from Borremans’s previous work. These landscapes, such as “The Gardener” (2023), feature surreal elements like an oversized monkey figurine and disproportionate objects, engaging the viewer’s subconscious.

For more information, please consult David Zwirner’s website here.