Berlinde de Bruyckere: The Wound

Corpses aren’t really able to shock the Istanbulian audience. Lifeless Horses and dead foals are nevertheless irritating in an atmosphere of continously passing by. The exhibition is a good reminder of the terrific atmosphere of the location itself.

The Çukurcuma Hamam is slowly but surely rottening. The objects, dead flesh, are kind of clother to the environment then the visitor of the exhibition. Big spots of mold on the cupola of the Hamam are competing with the vision of a wound.

The matephorical set up is able to cause lots of compounds. Berlinde de Bruyckere was influenced by photographs of dead horses in the Belgium Flanders Field Museum. They refer to a time, when Europe was spreading death to the neighborhoods. The artist discovered a medical Photography album in a library in Istanbul and started to experiment with Wax, Horseskin and other materials to create a morbid atmosphere of transience.