Cindy Wright - Dead Poetry

We will bring 2018 to a close with an overview of the recent work of Cindy Wright. Her hyper-realistic paintings, in which decay and transience are a leitmotif, will be combined with the creation of a new soundscape by the Dutch composer/lute player Jozef van Wissem.

Wright’s paintings look deceptively 'real'. In addition to a masterful representation of flowers, plants or insects, her work also carries an intrinsic ecological concern. 

Mortality and vulnerability have long been at the heart of Cindy Wright's work. She depicts flesh and fleshliness in a direct, almost brutal way. She is inspired by the 'nature morte', still lifes that occupy a prominent place in the history of Western painting.

But Wright's still lifes are more than that. They confront the visitor without moralising. They raise ethical and aesthetic questions about our contemporary society. How do we deal with death, transience and vulnerability today? What does it mean to be human? Where does the brutality of being human hide? What is our position with regard to the food (including animals) we eat? How do we treat the earth on which we live? What do we do or not do about it?

These themes form the core of the hyper-realistic paintings exhibited in Gaasbeek Castle. Where self-made photographs form the basis of her works, it is ultimately pure matter - the brush and the paint - that determines the appeal of her work. Visual connections between her paintings and the rooms of the castle turn this exhibition into an impressive balancing act.

Details: from Friday 7 September to Sunday 4 November 2018, open daily except Mondays, from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm (no admittance after 5.00 pm), open on public holidays . Tickets cost € 12, discount and group rate € 10, under 18 € 2, under 7 free.