Galerie Rodolphe Janssen in Brussels Presents "Thomas Lerooy: X & Y"

Written by Julius Tuymans Saturday, 22 October 2011 21:57

Brussels.- X and Y are the symbols of interchangeability: X can stand for anything, as Y can stand for anything except what X stands for. In the XY coordinate system, the point where the horizontal x-axis and the vertical y-axis intersect is the point zero, the origin and in essence the Void from which Everything arises. X and Y are also the sex chromosomes that form the basis of life. The coming together of sperm and egg cell creates the female XX or male XY cells. "X & Y" is the title of the exhibition which Thomas Lerooy created for Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, which consists of an ensemble of five new drawings and a bronze sculpture. The exhibition is on view until May 14th 2011.

Thomas Lerooy found inspiration for his series of drawings in the Hofkirche of the Austrian Innsbruck, where the cenotaph of Emperor Maximilian I is surrounded by a monumental series of 28 life-size bronze sculptures. The imposing statues represent historical heroes who guard the cenotaph for all eternity. The whole forms an unparalleled and baroque all-encompassing experience. In the center of the gallery space whose floor is covered, for the occasion, with a pinkish skin-coloured carpet, one stands, as a spectator, surrounded by five large drawings. Each drawing represents a classic image, made up of a combination of visual fragments, drawn on different sheets. At the basis of Lerooys’ re-use of classical sculpture lies the idea that something new in art can only originate from the combination and reinterpretation of what already exists. He combines and copies fragments that interest him, to bring out, in this way, something entirely new. The heroic pose of each statue stands in stark contrast to the bizarre attributes they are laden with. Evidently, the process of decay has already started to affect the sculptures, some statues seem to melt away while others appear to have been repeatedly perforated or split in half. The heroism has, in other words, deteriorated into tragic degeneration and Thomas Lerooy transforms the sculptures’ aura of eternity into perpetual decay.

Thomas Lerooy was born in Roeselare, Belgium in 1981 and now lives and works in Gent. In his sculptures and drawings Lerooy conjures up a fantastical world that takes beholders to the intimate frontiers of humanity, probing the dark areas and the flaws that define man’s mental and physical limits. Each work evokes metaphysical questions as the artist offers his richly ironic explorations of such themes as creation, desire and death. Lerooy’s work teems with strange creatures and symbols of death. His drawings celebrate an aesthetic tradition reaching back to Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, but also recall the vanitas paintings of the 17th century, mixed in with the grotesque and macabre humour of more recent artists like James Ensor, Félicien Rops and Antoine Wiertz. Just as Ensor painted self-portraits with a skull, and Rops showed prostitutes copulating with skeletons, so Lerooy transforms the head of the Mona Lisa into a skull, and his impassive faces are furrowed by erotic fault lines or holes in the frontal cortex threatening to swallow up the little bit of brain that remains.

The Galerie Rodolphe Janssen was founded in 1991, and since then has devoted itself in presenting shows by contemporary artists. Artists represented include, Marcel Berlanger, Walead Beshty, Balthasar Burkhard, Lynne Cohen, Tim Davis, Wim Delvoye, Philip-Lorca Dicorcia, Jurgen Dresher, Mitch Epstein, Kendell Geers, Thomas Lerooy, Justin Lieberman, Esko Mannikko, Adam McEwan, Jean-Luc Moerman, Farhad Moshiri, Mrzyk & Moriceau, David Ratcliff, Torbjorn Rodland, Sam Samore, Lisa Sanditz, Stephen Shore, Gert & Uwe Tobias, Banks Violette and Bernard Voi. The gallery is located at 35 Rue de Livourne, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium. visit the gallery's website at ... http://www.galerierodolphejanssen.com/

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