Berlinde De Bruyckere

A glimpse into the sculptor’s soul
In a personal essay, Kathleen Weyts reflects on her encounters with Berlinde De Bruyckere’s angels, objects and creatures. The artist’s new exhibition in Bozar — her first large-scale show at the institution — provides the starting point for a journey through 25 years of work.
It must have been sometime in the early nineties when I first came across Berlinde De Bruyckere’s work. I was intrigued, but didn’t really know what to make of it. Perhaps I was too young and too hurried to grasp the profound poetry of her sculptures. When she presented her haystacks and human figures covered in blankets during ‘Onschuld kan een hel zijn [Innocence can be a hell]’ at the Middelheim Museum in 1995, I was more attracted by the beauty of the colours than by the sculptur (…)