Following upon the successes of the first three editions of Counterpoint, the Louvre continues to pursue its policy of openness to contemporary art and living artists by extending an invitation this spring to Jan Fabre. Within the galleries devoted to the painted works of the Flemish, Dutch and German Schools, visitors are encouraged to rediscover celebrated works by masters such as van Eyck, van der Weyden, Bosch, Metsys and Rubens through the eyes of Jan Fabre.
The itinerary proposed by Jan Fabre through the museum’s collections may be perceived as a “mental drama” featuring the major elements of his own life work and those of the old masters. The artist seeks to connect his universe with the main themes running through the Louvre’s collections: death and resurrection, the vanities of human life, sacrifice, money, madness, carnival, battles, the artist’s studio. Some thirty works—ranging from drawings, sculptures, video and other installations to performance pieces captured on film—thus punctuate the itinerary imagined by the artist.
The continuity of the dialogue between Jan Fabre and the Dutch, Flemish and German old masters, a legacy ever present in the artist’s approach to his work, as well as the types of interventions placed on view, enhance the power and mystery of the works in the Louvre’s collections and endow them with new meanings.
“The coherence of the parcours and the voice of the most significant works of Jan Fabre allow another vision on the history of art in which the contemporary artist reactivates and actualize the works of the past, sometimes restoring their lost sense.”
Henri Loyette (President-director of the Louvre museum)