Cultural Compass: Rare Andy Warhol, questioning colonial perspectives and solo exhibitions
Every Sunday, Belga English picks its favourite events from the cultural agenda. This week: The last chance to see the early work of Andy Warhol before his Pop Art fame, challenging societal norms on history and breaking the lens of colonialism, and two female artists present their perspectives at Museum M.
Early Andy Warhol until 15 March, PXL University College, Hasselt
The iconic American artist left his mark worldwide with his vibrant Campbell's Soup Cans and Marilyn Monroe’s unbreakable gaze, but Andy Warhol’s sketches are rarely displayed. Some of his early works from the 1950s are still enjoying their European debut in Hasselt, but only for one more week.
Early Andy Warhol showcases a different side of the artist with 30 unique drawings, 25 original record covers, vintage magazines and a film.
Drawings of men wearing earrings and necklaces opposite homoerotic drawings of naked men offer imagery that was ahead of its time.
"Nobody takes offence to that now," says curator Luk Lambrecht. "But in the 1950s of puritanical America, it was not easy to be 'different'. Warhol had a great fascination for the human body. Did you know that he also depicted a lot of feet? Because he had a fascination for shoes, for which he made a lot of advertisements.”
Face/Surface: Metamorphosis of Colonial Perspectives until 16 March, KADOC - KU Leuven
Twelve colonial-era photographs invite visitors to question their way of viewing imagery. Instead of reading sanitised captions written by colonial-era archivists, Face/Surface gives voice to the subjects.
Over the past year, members of Congolese Kring, Université de Lubumbashi, KU Leuven and KADOC have explored these photographs in an effort to bring forth the layered meanings and histories behind the people in them.
In the spring of 2024, five towns in Katanga, in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo, provided the setting for a series of unconventional conversations. The inhabitants were invited to share their knowledge on a collection of historical photographs taken in the area up to 100 years ago.
The images, from the archives of the Friars Minor of Saint Joseph, document daily life under colonial rule, including work, celebrations and forced labour. The photographs which have been preserved in Belgium have been shown in DRC.
This exhibition explores whether viewers can alter their perspectives or reshape their understanding of history. Whose words are we using when we absorb images? Can we break patterns around our cemented understandings?
Sigefride Bruna Hautman 31 August, M Leuven
M will host the first retrospective of Antwerp artist Sigefride Bruna Hautman, showcasing her rich and distinctive oeuvre developed since the 1980s.
Described as "figurative poems", Hautman’s work spans sculptures, reliefs, installations, videos, collages and text. She moves between hyperrealism and stylisation, simplicity and complexity, using diverse materials from wood to silk. Her introspective practice explores social outrage, existential questions and human relationships.
Though widely respected among artists and cultural figures, Hautman has remained largely under the radar. This exhibition, curated by Valerie Verhack, presents her work publicly for the first time in decades, offering insight into her poetic visual language. A monograph will accompany the show.
Hautman draws inspiration from Giotto, Beckett and Bowie, among others, shaping a world where image and text merge as an expressive, layered universe of memory and thought.
Grace Schwindt: A History of Touch until 16 November, M Leuven
This solo exhibition has been developed in dialogue with the museum’s collection, exploring vulnerability, care and the body’s role in shaping history and memory.
© M LEUVEN
Schwindt’s multidisciplinary practice spans drawing, performance, film, sculpture and painting, all equally central to her work. Her artistic research examines how capitalism affects the body and mind, while also reflecting on collective memory. For this exhibition, Schwindt spent time in M’s depots, where she was struck by the meticulous care given to even the most damaged historical sculptures. This inspired a series of new watercolors, sculptures and paintings that respond to pieces from M’s collection.
One key influence is a fragmented 16th-century Christ on the Cold Stone, of which only a torso, head, legs and stone remain. Schwindt saw the delicate handling of this sculpture as a kind of choreography and created a new work that both supports and reinterprets the original fragments.
(MOH)
#FlandersNewsService | The Sigefride Bruna Hautman exhibition at Museum M in Leuven © PHOTO ELIAS DERBOVEN FOR MUSEUM M
Ongoing events
Antwerp
COMPASSION, MAS
Family Happiness, Red Star Line
Panamarenko: Infinite Imagination, KMKSA
Dürer: Master of the Renaissance, Museum De Reede
Exhibitions at FOMU
Brussels
Berlinde De Bruyckere: Khorós, Bozar
Alechinsky: Pinceau Voyageur, Villa Empain
When We See Us, Bozar
Mechelen
Eternal Spring: Gardens and Tapestries in the Renaissance, Museum Hof van Busleyden
Ostend
Testerep, Venetian Galleries
More cultural coverage this week
