Jan Fabre (b. 1958) is internationally recognized as one of today’s most innovative and versatile artists. For more than 25 years he has been creating a distinct profile for himself as a ground-breaking performance artist, theatre and opera director, choreographer and visual artist. As an artist he is famous for his ‘Bic-art’, drawings that he makes using a blue ballpoint pen in which he tries to capture the secrets and wonders of nature. Fabre’s artistry is nourished by an infinite fascination with the world of insects, especially the beetle. He ascribes meaning to insects, which serve as metaphors for the human condition, life, death, good, evil, love, violence and so on. Proceeding from and through this insular, highly idiosyncratic world, in which beauty and violence go hand in hand, Fabre propagates his sociocritical thoughts and holds up a beautifully packaged, but acerbically astute, mirror to humankind.
Jan Fabre (b. 1958) is internationally recognized as one of today’s most innovative and versatile artists. For more than 25 years he has been creating a distinct profile for himself as a ground-breaking performance artist, theatre and opera director, choreographer and visual artist. As an artist he is famous for his ‘Bic-art’, drawings that he makes using a blue ballpoint pen in which he tries to capture the secrets and wonders of nature. Fabre’s artistry is nourished by an infinite fascination with the world of insects, especially the beetle. He ascribes meaning to insects, which serve as metaphors for the human condition, life, death, good, evil, love, violence and so on. Proceeding from and through this insular, highly idiosyncratic world, in which beauty and violence go hand in hand, Fabre propagates his sociocritical thoughts and holds up a beautifully packaged, but acerbically astute, mirror to humankind.
Pivotal to the exhibition at the Kröller-Müller Museum is Fabre’s fascination with the phenomenon of metamorphosis and his exploration of the human body. The exhibition and the accompanying publication Jan Fabre, Hortus/Corpus present an extensive selection from his oeuvre that is complemented by new works. These will be presented for the first time at the Kröller-Müller Museum and are in part inspired by the exhibition concept, where new and existing works blend with the museum’s interior and exterior, bringing about intriguing confrontations between his own work and works from the museum’s collection. In the spring of 2011 Fabre’s famous bronze sculpture, The Man Who Measures the Clouds (1998), will be installed on the roof of the Kröller-Müller Museum to mark this major retrospective.
Work by Jan Fabre has featured in major international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale, Documenta in Kassel and the São Paolo Biennale. His recent presentations have included Antropologia di un pianeta – Anthropology of a Planet – at the Palazzo Benzon in Venice (2007) and Jan Fabre au Louvre. L’ange de la métamorphose – Jan Fabre at the Louvre. The Angel of Metamorphosis – at the Musée du Louvre in Paris (2008).