Berlinde De Bruyckere

Galleria Continua, San Gimignano
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A surreal effect characterizes Berlinde De Bruyckere’s sculptures, which often represent female figures expressing a need for security by being wrapped in copious layers of wool. At the gallery’s entrance, two works in wax, set on high wooden stools, portrayed curled-up women without arms, breasts, or sexual organs; their long, thick hair, made from a horse’s mane, completely hid their faces. In some cases, the search for protection ends up rendering their bodies prisoners.

This happens, for example, in a sculpture of a woman whose only visible parts were her legs and feet—the rest of her body was closed up in a bag made of roughly sewn scraps of wool. Generally a symbol of shelter, the blanket, in De Bruyckere’s work, becomes an oppressive element, as in an installation formed by two iron beds upon which ten or twenty multicolored blankets had been piled on top of one another. The work provoked a strong sense of uneasiness in the spectator that was heightened by the presence of holes in the woolen covers, the apparent remnants of some parasite’s passage.

In the basement of the gallery sat a huge, iron-structured dollhouse strewn with covers and pillows whose shapes were reminiscent of plush toys. The apparent welcome is false, however: Upon entering the narrow spaces, visitors discovered that the plush parts were actually amputated bits of stuffed animals.

Finally, in the former auditorium, the Belgian artist placed two commanding horses leaning their front legs on an immense supporting scaffold. Although they were covered with equine skin, the animals, with their stocky bodies and upstretched necks, were not really realistic, and their lack of eyes and mouth underscored their ambiguity.




Daniela Ardizzone
Translation by Amanda Coulson