Allegory of the Painted Woman
Woman-as-mother, Madonna, temptress, prostitute, martyr, saint or goddess are classical motifs that have been painted and sculpted throughout art history from a predominately male gaze, resulting in the historical fixity of women's gestures and objectification of the body. Alexis Blake selected a series of female poses found in artworks from the Renaissance to early Modernism and created a choreography and performance that explores subjectivity and examines gender and representation through embodiment, repetition and sound. Two dancers and four musicians in the Horta Hall at BOZAR will abstract the poses, strip them of their history and context, and confront the viewer to address, contradict and question preconceived notions of a body.
• Alexis Blake has a multidisciplinary practice that coalesces fine art, movement and performance. Blake received an MA in Fine Art from Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam (2007) and was an artist-in-residence at the Delfina Foundation, London (2016) and Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht (2014–15). Her work has been presented at numerous locations, such as: Riga Biennial 2018, Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), British Museum (London) as part of Block Universe, ExtraCity (Antwerp) and La Triennale di Milano XXI (Milan).
concept, direction & choreography Alexis Blake | dancers Nafisah Baba, Marika Meoli | musicians Raphaëlle Ribouillault (clarinet), Rosa Vidal (clarinet), Jean Xhonneux (tuba), Robert Visser (euphonium) | music score Alexis Blake, Kirsten Gramlich & Robert Visser | costume design Elisa van Joolen
within the context of the exhibition
BERNARD VAN ORLEY
BRUSSELS AND THE RENAISSANCE
This first ever monographic exhibition of the work of Bernard van Orley – a key figure in the Renaissance world which formed Bruegel – collects masterpieces from around the world, and returns them to the place where they were once created. > Read more